


Wildling

by DreamHero



Series: Hero Enough [1]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: (Is it still imposter syndrome if you really are an imposter?), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gods, Grief/Mourning, Hard to explain, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Link does not have the Hero's Spirit, Link is not Link, Link's and Hylia's Relationship is Complicated, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Master Sword (Legend of Zelda), Misunderstandings, Old magics, Overprotective wildlife, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Shrine of Resurrection, The Koroks Love Link, Wild (Linked Universe) Angst, Wild (Linked Universe) Hero of Choice, Wild (Linked Universe)-centric, Wildling Hero AU, Wolf Link (Legend of Zelda), Wolf Link is Twilight Princess Link, imposter syndrome, past-Mute Link
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26600368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamHero/pseuds/DreamHero
Summary: 100 years after the Calamity, the body of the fallen hero rises once again, but the being who steps out of the Shrine of Resurrection is no longer Hylia's Chosen Hero. A new life born without the Goddess's blessing, created by magics old and forgotten, something new and impossibly different took its first breaths.Where the Hero of Courage once fell, the Wildling now rises.“What are you?""A hero. Just not like you."........AKA: Breath of the Wild Link isn't actually a "Link" blessed with the Hero's Spirit or even the Triforce of Courage. He's something much different though no less important in the grand scheme of destiny. Too bad the Chosen Heroes of the past decide to drag him into their mission before he can fully figure out just what he is.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Great Deku Tree & Link (Legend of Zelda), Hylia & Link (Legend of Zelda), Koroks & Link (Legend of Zelda), Link & Link (Legend of Zelda), Link & Past Heroes (Legend of Zelda), Link & Wildlife, The Great Fairy & Link (Legend of Zelda), Time & Wild (Linked Universe), Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe)
Series: Hero Enough [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935541
Comments: 277
Kudos: 842
Collections: RaeLynn's Epic Rec List





	1. The Pieces of Many Puzzles can still Paint a Picture

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Everyone! Hope you like it! I've recently been sucked into the Zelda fandom pretty hard after getting my hands on Breath of the Wild a few months ago. So this is my give back to the amazing community.  
> Enjoy!
> 
> Rated T For; mentions of violence and war, mentions of death, non-graphic injury(mostly burns), cursing
> 
> Credits:  
> Linked Universe and original character ideas belong to jojo56830 on Tumblr  
> Zelda and all its trademarks belong to the lovely people at Nintendo  
> The only things I can claim as my own are my words and this crazy idea called "Wildling".

Many things happened the day the Hero died. 

Zelda unlocked her powers, the Master Sword was resealed, Ganon was bound to the castle, and the Hero’s body was carried and locked within the Shrine of Resurrection. 

It’s no surprise, no one noticed. No one would have thought to look. Mortals are strange that way. They tend to see only what they want to see. So everyone failed to notice when the Master Sword dimmed, when the Triforce’s mark left Link’s hand, when a faint breeze blew through the clearing around the wreckage of the once-proud Fort. No one noticed that Link’s soul was already gone. No one thought to question if Hylia would delay the collecting of her most cherished soul for their plan. 

So when the body was sealed away to heal, to be fixed, and resurrected. The flesh and bone was mended within a few short weeks, but the shrine did not open, for there was no soul within the body. Perfectly healthy and forced to live by a mix of ancient technologies and magic, but nothing expect the ghost of a soul inhabited it. The shrine did not open.

But slowly, ever so slowly, something started to happen. The empty vessel of a long-dead hero started to fill. Jagged jumbled pieces of the world-of feelings-of memories flooded into the shrine. The dead body kept alive, became a mosaic of the world, a reflecting pool of its secrets and scars, a jar that caught every drop of passion and sorrow in equal measure. And from the death of a hero, something new started to be created. 

The echoes of the dead and dying praying for a savior, broken confessions on the wind begging for a better world, children in hushed voices crying over storybooks for a hero to save them, but those voices soon stopped. Faith dies in the wake of total destruction and Hryule could not waste time praying to gods and heroes who would not hear them, but the voice of their prayers joined with the ghost of the Hero long dead, with fading memories of _vows, oaths, and loyalty_. The fragment of “ **You must protect them** ” branded into his mind.

The clash of swords in an endless battle, the howls of monsters in the night, and the snarls of the desperate spiting cruses to gods who abandoned them became a buzz in his ears. A consent ringing of violence, the clatter of chaos only he and the creatures of destruction could hear. It told of the once-heralded protectors of the land now becoming its greatest destroyers, the sick red black corruption seeping into a land that struggles to fight back, the crimson laugh of the blood moon as it undoes weeks of hope in a single night. _A ghost of fear-of white-hot pain-of death_. The fragment of “ **You must fight to survive** ” burned into his bones.

The rustle of wind through the grasses of the fields, the pattering drops of rain upon vibrant green leaves, and the tumbling of rocks down the mountainside, were almost too quiet to hear, but life was not always quiet. Raging sparks of a brewing storm, the calls of deer on the run, the laugh of Koroks bouncing on the wind, the splash of fish fighting against the raging river, the chirp of birds intertwining in a mating dance, the chime of fairies coaxing flowers to bloom; The whispers of long-forgotten magics wove a lullaby of life. Memories of _family, home, friends_ , slipped through his fingers as easily as sand, but the feelings lingered with the song. The fragment of “ **You are not alone** ” blossomed into his heart. 

And finally, after 100 years, the Hero who was no longer the Hero, awoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First Chapter! :)
> 
> This is mostly just explaining how "Link" came to be who he is today. I know this chapter uses a lot of fancy poem like allusions, but the story becomes more story like after this. I just wanted to set up our leading man with an interesting intro. 
> 
> See you guys soon! :)


	2. Companions Split the Pain and Double the Heartache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our Not-Hero learns his name, is given his destiny, and gains a friend.

A life created without the Goddess’s blessing, with no memories of his own. He stumbled headfirst into the world, and was met with wonder and awe. 

His soul was still new, raw, and so very fragile. But he was a new life in a world full of it, and the itch to explore, to see, to learn grew with every passing breath. He took to the wilds like he was made for it, and in its forests, plains, and rivers, he learned how not just to live, but to be alive. 

The wilds were where his heart yearned to be, it made him feel home. Even though home wasn’t really a word our not hero understood. He understood enough to recognize and crave the warmth the wild places brought him. But the shadow of his old soul, of the prayers whispering in his head for safety, for the voice of a princess he had never meet, the wilds also brought shame and guilt. A feeling of spurring duty and leaving those in need. 

The warring sides of himself brought turmoil. He had no memory of this princess, though the ghost king spoke of their past, spoke of many things he had forgotten, and his sacred duty to fulfill vows decades old. The chiming voice of the Goddess soon joined, though hesitant she claimed him her chosen, her hero, her weapon. But there was another softer voice that called to him along the breeze, deep and old, it spoke of new beginnings, a hero not by fate but by choice, and the birth of the child of the wilds.

The words weighed down our not hero and confused him even further. He knew he must carry out this duty, for what else was he to do? This was his purpose, the reason he was kept alive for 100 years. But then why did the wilds and freedom call to him if he was always a child of man and law?

Peace of mind came in the strangest of forms. A large gray wolf with unusual markings along its forehead and a broken chain on its front left paw. The giant beast started following the newly renamed Link shortly after he left the great plateau in search of Impa (who he was told would have more answers, which was good because he had a lot of questions).

The beast did nothing more than follow Link for a day before Link realized the beast meant him no harm and he invited it to spend the night with him. It was a silent companion, but Link wasn’t much better. The King and himself had both been surprised when he responded to him with words (apparently the old him didn’t speak), but speaking was still new, the knowledge there though hard to access, and fear of messing up often tangled his tongue.

Link dubbed the creature “Dusk” for its fondness of watching the sunset. He tried “Sun” first but got snapped at and quickly learned his wolf friend was far smarter than most creatures Link has encountered so far. It never barked unless something was wrong, and its growls were either teasing or warnings to monsters. Its bright blue eyes hinted at a hidden intelligence but Link wasn’t sure he wanted to disrupt the companionship they had established between each other. The beast helped him fight and gather food, and after a few days, Dusk was even letting Link pet him and use him as a pillow during the night. It was soon to the point Link forgot what it was like to be alone, and with Dusk as his side walking the path of the hero was far less a burden when a piece of the wild – a piece of home- walked with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two! Some setting up stuff. Wolf Companion is here! (I am firmly in the camp that Wolf Link is Twilight Link, but I also love the idea that Wild Link could never guess the word Twilight, so Twilight Link settles with Dusk as a name).
> 
> Hope you liked it! Leave a comment if you want (do you have ideas or theories?(I love both!)). See you next time!


	3. Titles do not Make the Hero (But They do Help Shape Them)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link thinks about the many titles he has earned on his journey and unknowingly helps give someone else a very important title.

Link never felt comfortable being the Hero, and it was always the creatures and spirits of the wild that understood that the most, the Great Deku Tree was the one who warned him of the sword. That the great and legendary “sword that seals the darkness” would try to attack him if he pulled it without being prepared. The Great Fairies gave him their blessings and were always ready to simply chat an evening away about events long past. The Koroks were a much-needed distraction on his journey of hardship and struggle, and often times, after finding one, the Korok would accompany him and Dusk for a while, bouncing along behind them telling awful jokes in attempts to get Dusk to snort-laugh (it often worked). 

But all too soon, the story of the Hero who wasn’t, came to an end.

Link destroyed Calamity Ganon and saved Hyrule. He was heralded a Hero of Legend, the Last Champion, the Greatest Royal Knight to live. Link never liked these titles, they always felt wrong- stolen. They belonged to the old him, the him he couldn’t remember but in fragmented pieces, and privately to himself, and Dusk would admit he didn’t want to.

So instead, Link chose to embrace a different title. 

One given by the Fairies and used by the Koroks and the Great Deku Tree. These creatures of the wild-of home- called him Wildling. They never explained why, but the name had a certain ring to it, a hidden meaning Link could never puzzle out. Dusk’s confused expression the first time he heard it at least made Link feel somewhat better, though not much. 

With Hyrule saved and its Princess –now its Queen- free once more, there was much to do for the Hero/Champion/Knight that Link had become. He tried to perform his duties to honor vows he did not remember, but Zelda so often spoke of the past, of things he could not and would not remember. And the itch in Link’s veins to return to the wilds, to the ancient places and old magics, grew with every stuffy court meeting and fancy diner gala. He lasted a month before he snuck out with Dusk and Gin (his favorite stead, a free-spirited creature that towered over Hylain and horse alike). 

He heads for Kakariko wanting to restock his supplies and knowing that even if he did not stop to see Impa, she would know he was there and would report to the Queen that he was alive and well. (the duty he felt towards Zelda waned with each memory of her he regained and with every passing day, but this small mercy towards her would be enough to ease the part of him still bound by the shackles of vows and oaths). 

Kakariko Village is almost exactly as he remembered from his dozens of trips. Normally he would teleport in (it was the main way he got anywhere in the latter half of his journey when he had to cross the literal continent to finish quests). But Gin and Dusk couldn’t teleport, Dusk would find him again later (he always did), but boarding Gin came with the complication of Zelda finding her (and him through her). So the scenic route it became. 

Link would never have noticed the new house on the edge of town if he hadn’t walked in. It still looked half-built, the paint still not done on the outside, and the garden beside it a mess of upturned earth and seed bags. Link took a moment to just look at the house and enjoy the slight feeling of pride that twisted through his veins. Villages were expanding without fear now that the Calamity was gone. And it was because of him that people could live again.

A tug on his cloak casts his eyes down to a young girl with white snow hair and sparkling green eyes, with a large gaped tooth smile. She can’t be older than 5 or 6 and her playfulness and laugh speak of a childhood raised and sheltered away from the war, but something about her strikes a chord deep inside Link. A familiarity that confuses, unsettles, and warms him in equal measure. The Master Sword on his back burns and thrums with power for the first time since Ganon’s fall. 

“Master,” it whispers.

Link doesn’t know how, but maybe it’s the same instinct that told him the Goddess didn’t really trust him, the same little voice in the back of his head that questioned if he was really the “Hero,” however, he knows, he knows with ice-cold certainly that the Master Sword isn’t talking about him. 

The little girl tilts her head when Link doesn’t respond, a frown tugging at her lips, and she tugs on his cloak harder. Link stumbles into a crouch doing his best to smile, it must work because she smiles back with a giggle-a laugh full of sunshine and the warmth only a soul blessed by a God could give. Link vaguely wonders if anyone has noticed, if anyone knows this little girl is the Hero he was reborn again. The Master Sword burns against his back, hot enough to be felt through his layers of clothes and armor, a demand. Link keeps smiling and hums along with the girl’s stories of her adventures and complements her finger-painted artwork, all while ignoring the burning and Dusk’s concerned gaze.

The girl’s mothers rush out of the house minutes later, apologizing about bothering him. Bowing in that too deep way, all while calling him "Master Link" like all the Sheikah do. He waves them off, trying not to show how uncomfortable he is with the overly extravagant praise of a man he is no longer. It feels especially fake coming from the parents of the new Hero. He gets invited to dinner, and though he tries to deny their hospitality, Dusk nudges him forward, and he ends up staying well past food has been severed. 

Link learns more than he wanted about the new Hero, the Hero who would have beaten Ganon had he never awoken. Her name is Renia, and she is a proud 5 ¾ years old, born to an artist and a priestess who both love her very much. He learns that she has an older sister named Kina, who is 9 and more book-learned than he thinks he might be now, and a younger sibling due in the spring. Her mothers tell him that Renia is an adventurous and imaginative child, always playing Hero with the other kids and painting dragons and fairies in her sketchbook. Her mother, who is the artist, and who he is ashamed to not remember her name, privately confides in him that's she's pretty sure Renia will be an artist when she grows up and outgrows her adventuring days. He does not have the heart nor the words to confide in her that he does not think that's possible with a child bearing the Hero's Spirit. But eventually, the sun begins to set, and he wishes the family well. Though it burns against his back all night in a fury, and more than once Link had to stop Renia from sneaking up to "get a better look" at the holy sword, Link does not give the Master Sword to its new Hero. 

That night, in what little privacy the inn affords, Link tries to dismiss the blade into the slate, the Master Sword refuses to obey now that it has found its true wielder. So Link does the next best he can manage and carefully wraps the holy blade in thick cloth. Link is quick the next day gathering supplies for the journey and only stops to say a quick hello to Cotera, before he’s leaving Kakariko Village. Dusk sends him concerned looks the whole morning, but Link ignores them or waves them off. He is on a mission, and Link cannot bear to think of how his mind would be so easily swayed by Dusk’s opinion, so he keeps his mouth shut and begins the long journey to the Lost Woods, so that no child will ever even have the option of picking up the sword.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Three Chapters in a day! (I'm on a roll!) This is the last one for today though, as this is about where my ideas run out so if I'm going to continue I need to think about where I'm going to take the story from here. Hope you all have enjoyed it to this point!


	4. A Brush with an Unknown Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link's life goes from questionable to pretty bad in the span of a single night.

It was the third day when everything went wrong. 

Link was resting at Riverside Stable for the night. He thought Gin deserved a rest after he pushed her for the last few days to get him quickly out of the Dueling Peaks Region. And though Dusk was acting tough, Link knew he was tired too. Wolves weren’t meant to keep pace with horses after all. 

It was a quiet evening at the Stable. The owner Ember had given Gin a wary look when they approached, but quickly warmed up to her and was happy to house her with the other horses. Beedle gave him his normal greeting of how they must have been married in a past life. Link laughed it off like normal and spent some rupees buying arrows, before heading over to say hello to Pikango. The artist was happy to see him and welcomed him with a bright smile as he packed up his paints for the day. Pikango complained about the light drizzle that had come earlier that day, and Link was happy to nod along with his venting as they both headed inside for the night. 

It wasn’t until Link was removing the pieces of his Hylian armor set (he felt weird wearing the Champions tunic when he wasn’t on a mission for the woman who made it) that he noticed something was weird. Dusk wasn’t anywhere to be seen. This wasn’t highly unusual. Dusk sometimes liked to do animal things, but they had a long day, and Link had expressed his desire to leave relatively early. He wanted to be rid of the holy sword that burned the person who helped it and its Goddess defeat the greatest evil of their time as soon as possible. 

Link walked to the edge of the stable to see if Dusk was maybe planning on sleeping outside with the stable’s dog (it happened much more often at the beginning of their journey, and he hadn’t done it in months, but maybe Dusk was mad he hadn’t talked about why he was forcing them on the sudden trip and was mad). But when Link reached the edge of the wooden flooring, and he saw no dog-shaped objects insight, he remembered that the Riverside Stable didn’t have a dog. 

Worry swirled in his gut as he gazed over the dark grasslands. He razed a hand to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Link could hear Gin stomp impatiently in her stall, and nuzzle at the latch with a concerning creaking of metal, suddenly alert and ready to go at the sound. A few of the other horses also whinnied and shuffled in their stalls despite the late hour. 

Link waited for the return howl Dusk always gave. It was a method that Link had to use less and less the past month (as he hadn’t been teleporting anywhere, and there was no need to call Dusk to his side as he was already there). But after a minute, no howl came, just the chirping of nearby crickets and the distant fluttering of Keese on the wind.

The worry grew and twisted into dread, locking his muscles in place for a heart-stopping moment before the fear-filled adrenaline kicked in, and he was taking off into the night, yelling Dusk’s name into the night. Pebbles and sticks dug into Link’s feet as he raced through the midnight fields of the Central Hyrule Region, but the pain wasn’t even noticed in his frantic search for his closest and oldest companion. Gin whinnied loudly from her stall, stomping her feet thunderously against the ground, sensing her rider’s distress and growing annoyed that she couldn’t help assure him. 

The crickets’ song and the owls’ hoots grew silent as Link journeyed past the nearby shrine and into the rolling fields. The gentle wind stilled, and the wispy clouds that earlier brought the drizzle of rain drifted out of the path of the moon, illuminating the grasslands in an ethereal white glow. Link pauses on the edge of the Whistling Hill to gaze over the land, looking for any wolf shaped creatures among the surrounding tall grass and trees. 

Link whistles again, hoping beyond hope, that maybe Dusk just couldn’t hear him, that maybe Dusk was just taking a nap, or he was just-

“Yip!”

Link’s head turns at the sound, apologies, and scoldings on the tip of his tongue, but he never says any of it, for the creature who grabs his attention is much smaller and much more orange than Dusk. A fox stares up at Link from the tall grass 5 feet away, watching him with large yellow eyes. Link vaguely wonders when foxes got so bold to get so close to people or if all foxes’ eyes are that yellow. For a moment, they just stare at each other in the silent field, before it stands up, giving him a... nod? ‘No, only Dusk is that strangely smart, right?’ Link thinks, trying to rationalize through his fear and worry and confusion. 

The Fox “yips” at him again to grab his attention, runs in a circle, looks back at him to make sure he’s watching, and bounds off into the tall grass towards the Forest of Time. Link has the strangest urge to follow, but his rational rule, order, law fragment says that’s stupid, and he should keep calling for Dusk. The fear whispers of _how Dusk could be alone and hurt in the middle of nowhere_ , the guilt whispers of _him abandoning his friends just like he did to the Champions_ , the order whispers of the _irrationality and stupidity of following random forest creatures_.

Link must hesitate too long because the fox comes back and bounces around in front of him with an urgent string of “yips” before its dashing back into the grass. His vows, oaths, order, try to argue one last time before Link is running after the fox into the night.

Link thanks the Goddess that the clouds cleared because, without the moonlight, Link doubts he would be able to follow the small creature through the tall grass. The unnatural silence also helps him track the fox, but Link tries not to think about how quiet it’s gotten, about what that could mean, about what caused it. He just follows the fox deeper into the Central Hyrule countryside, over hills and rolling plains for a good 10 minutes before the small creature comes to a stop in front of a small batch of trees on the very edge of the Forest of Time. The fox fixes him with an urging look, pointing its nose towards the trees before dashing off back into the grasslands. 

Following his instincts and trusting them to lead him… somewhere. Link walks into the small wooded area, there under the base of a large apple tree, he finds what the fox was trying to show him, Dusk. Or at least Dusk’s topaz earing, the beast was too prideful for a collar, and as much as Link tried, neither he nor any of his acquaintances through his journey could remove the chain on his leg. Link was always afraid the metal would attract lighting, so he made Dusk a topaz earing while in Gerudo town. Dusk seemed surprised but amused and happy about the gift, showing it off to his fellow dog friends, and he would snap at people who tried to take it off. Which is why the sight of the earring laying so innocently on the ground fills Link with dread. Dusk would never (couldn’t probably) remove the earing on his own, which meant something very bad had happened. 

There was no blood, which Link wasn’t sure he was happy or upset about, no blood meant no injures, but maybe something worse, and no blood meant no monsters would show up but also that Link himself couldn’t track him. Thoughts racing, Link tried to form a plan, even a solid thought of just something, anything-

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and his ears twitched as suddenly animals started to make noise again around him. Link grew very still and tense in his still crouched position under the apple tree, suddenly very aware that he was being watched. Best case scenario it was Dusk, worse it was whoever had taken Dusk and left the earring as a lure. Link stood up very carefully as the wind whistled through the trees. The earring bit into his hand from how tight he was clutching it, but Link wasn’t letting the possible last piece of his friend go. 

Link turned slowly and met the pricing gaze of a single blue eye staring back. A middle-aged Hylian man dressed in armor with a sword strapped to his back stands in the shadows of the nearby trees. The man had a presence Link couldn’t place, something familiar and something so other it felt wrong and out of place. It almost felt like staring at a dream too long or thinking too hard about one of his past life’s memories; there and yet not fully tangible or real, a ghost of a time long gone.

The man’s one eye only watched him with a hard icy stare, his other sealed shut with a scar and surrounded by tattoos. Link dared a footstep back when a loud owl’s hoot broke the relative quiet as it took off from a nearby tree. A muffled curse echoed from his right, followed by the snap of a twig to his left. 

He was surrounded. 

Steal settles into his veins, battle he knew how to deal with, combat, and violence was second nature to Link at this point. Every moment since he woke up, it has been one struggle after the other to prove he has the right to live. If there’s one thing Link can do, it’s Fight to Survive. 

“Wait, we don’t-,” a voice yells from somewhere in the forest around him, but Link’s already moving, dashing towards the one-eyed man with a quickly summoned royal broadsword from his slate. Link thanks himself for being paranoid enough to never take the slate off, even at the stables. 

A man Link doesn’t see intercepts him, dashing in front of the man Link assumes is the leader. This new figure pushes Link back with the strength of a Goron but the stature of a large Hylain. He’s also decently older than Link, with face markings and dirty brown hair. He wasn’t wearing armor, only a green tunic and a… 

Link felt his whole body freeze as he stared into the dark blue eyes of the man in front of him, trying to process and trying to deny the obvious. He had found Dusk’s earing, tossed aside under a tree, where he then met a group of strangers that surrounded him and one of them, one of them…

One of them was wearing a wolf pelt that was a deep **gray**. 

Anger boiled thick and molten in his heart, and Link didn’t stop the animalistic snarl that tore its way out of his throat as he lunged for the man in front of him. Metal clashed against metal, and snarls and growls were exchanged in the place of words as they pushed each other around the clearing, neither giving an inch. Over the sounds of their fight Link could hear yelling and screams from the rest of the Hylians in the group panicking, along with the angered sound of the forest’s residents annoyed to be disturbed from their slumber. 

Link was coming down for a particularly hard swing when his sword shattered. His opponent was no rookie and immediately when in for the finishing blow when he had no weapon to defend himself. Link didn’t think, if he did, he would have reached for his slate instead of his back, but reflex drove him to pull the wrapped sword off his back and swing it in front of him defensively. His arms shook from the close block, and he skidded across the clearing, panting hard as the wrappings on the sword fell away. 

Link didn’t miss how his opponent’s eyes widened at the sight of the Master Sword, or how his stance shifted into a less guarded pose. Link didn’t care. Dusk was the only gray wolf in all of Hyrule, and he really didn’t care if it was hero-y or not. He was going to make these people pay for taking his closet friend. 

Link readied himself again when the sound of a whiny echoed across the fields. Link sparred a glance around the small grove and saw several other Hylains in various states of confusion and combat with the local wildlife and a well-timed swarm of Keese(probably the ones he heard earlier). Link heisted at the sheer number of well-armored Hylains though, the man he was fighting was good, maybe even better than him, but Link could eyeball at least five more; he couldn’t take that many. 

The horse whinnied again, this time much closer. Link leveled a glare with the murderer across from him and took off into the trees after the sound of Gin’s call. Shouts and yells for him to stop followed him, but he didn’t even think until he and Gin were on the road galloping at top speed. It was only when they were hours away from the Riverside Stable and the ringing in his ears had stopped that Link realized he was still holding the Master Sword. Burns covered the whole palm of his right hand and he couldn’t feel anything past his elbow, Link couldn’t bring himself to care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When writing this chapter I had four different maps of Hyrule open so I would get all the names of places correct...  
> But hey! Its a Linked Unvierese fic now! (Trust me I'm surprised too and I wrote the thing...)  
> Well no matter what it is, I had fun writing it, and I hope you had fun reading it! Leave a comment or a kudos if you want! :)


	5. Run as Far as You Can, for One Day You Must Stop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link finishes his mission and starts to doubt his place in the world.

Link stops at the Wetland Stable only for a few hours, to give himself a quick nap, and let Gin recover some of her strength for the next leg of the road. Link knew he had been careless. Those Hylains had clearly seen which direction he had ridden off too, and if they stopped at the stable, Pikango could tell them he was planning on heading to the Lost Woods. 

It might be slightly paranoid to think that they were following him, or maybe egotistical to believe he was that important. Link didn’t care. He just wanted to be rid of the sword and be somewhere where random best friend murdering Hylians wouldn’t find him. Maybe Link would stay in the Lost Woods for a bit. The ancient magics would certainly keep Zelda from bothering him with her stuffy meeting and rules. He deserved a break, especially after…

Link’s thought’s trailed off as his hand wandered up to his right ear, and the topaz earing that now dangled from it. Not his proudest moment, not that he really remembers it through the haze of grief and battle high adrenaline. But after taking out a monster camp located close to the road, just an hour away from the Riverside Stable, Link’s mental state wasn’t totally there. It was a spur of the moment decision, not that he regrets it, but he would have probably been more careful in piercing his ear if he was thinking a tad more clearly. It was a grim and dark memento to most people, but it was all he had left of his oldest friend. (And if he was being completely honest with himself the dull throbbing from the rushed and unskilled piercing was helping him keep his head and reminding him that Dusk wouldn’t want him to get revenge at the cost of his own life. Even if it sometimes physically hurt to walk away from the people who had done this).

Link had almost turned Gin around on the road when he was about to leave the Wetland Stable and Quince’s dog, Satty, came running up with a happy bark to send him off. He’s never seen a stable owner look more uncomfortable than Lawdon did at that moment as Link tried to school his features back into his normal neutral face and away from the heartbreaking rage that he had let slip. Lawdon wished him a shaky farewell, and Link nodded his in return, giving Satty an apple, who barked again in thanks before licking Link’s hand and running back around the stable to rejoin Quince. Link’s hands tightened on Gin’s reins, and she neighed quietly with a stomping of her feet, jostling Link just enough to knock him out of his darker thoughts. He took one deep, steadying breath before turning her towards the northbound road, and they took off as fast as she could run. 

He needed to complete his mission, he needed to get to the Lost Woods. Maybe he could ask the Great Deku Tree for help. Surely the Koroks would know something, right? Link could revive Gin (not that he ever had to. He had made a valiant effort to never put his companions in danger, to the point that if Dusk thought Link was too risky with his own life, the wolf would insist he was coming along, and often Link would, in fact, back down from whatever stunt he was about to pull). So maybe the forest spirits knew of a fairy who could bring back dogs? (Link knew Dusk wasn’t a dog, but he highly doubted there was a wolf fairy). 

But Link prayed to every god he could of that there would be some solution, some way, something he could do to fix this, because Link didn’t think he would be able to continue living like this. He was already an outsider in his own world, but with Dusk gone, that feeling of wrongness, that itching in his veins that he was supposed to be doing something important, something he just forgot- Link didn’t want to live as a ghost to his old life anymore. Still, without Dusk, Link worried it might be the only role he could fill. 

It was close to midnight on the 6th day from leaving Kakariko Village when they hit the Lost Woods. Link knew he had pushed Gin too hard. Ever since he woke up from the Shrine, he could do things no other Hylian could (like not sleep for days, though he often did anyway because he knew he was supposed to do it), but that didn’t apply to his noble loyal stead. She was putting on a brave face, which was expected of a horse of her temperament and pride, but Link knew better. He felt slightly guiltily at how hard and fast he had made her ride, but he knew they had no choice, and she would get to have a nice long rest once they finally entered the safety of the fog-filled woods. 

Once they started to enter the woods Link stepped down off of Gin, his boots causing the thick layer of underbrush to crackle and shuffle. He took Gin by the reins and slowly led her through the twisting path of torches. There was a heavily chill in the air, and the sky was completely dark not by the natural darkness of night sky but by the thick layer of ghostly white mist that hung thick and suffocating around the woods. Gin stomped impatiently at the ground, tossing her head side to side in unease. 

The Lost Woods never truly unsettled Link, not like it did to other Hylians or even monsters, but he could never shake the feeling that when he was here something was watching him. He wasn’t sure if it was his most recent experience talking or the slightly warm package on his back, but he felt like the presence of something else in the woods was stronger today. Glancing around, however, revealed nothing but the twisted open maws of large stout trees staring back at him. (Link always wondered what was up with the trees, he could never bring himself to ask the Koroks, for fear of the answer not being as innocent as his mind hoped it was.)

Two flickering beacons marked the end of the path, and at the base of the rightmost signal fire, an unlit and unused handheld torch waited. Link reached for it, before an overly familiar popping noise echoed around the small clearing.

Link turned slowly, not sure if this was some sort of new trick or defense to protect the woods, but a little off to his left, floating a few feet in the air was a Korok. 

“Yahaha,” it laughed in the universal giggle of all Koroks, “Follow me Wildling!” 

And it started to float bounce off into the forest of twisted trees without a care in the world. 

Link snorted to himself at the absurdity of the situation; of course, the Koroks would come to pick him up, why wouldn’t they? He was halfway through a turn to see what kind of amused face Dusk was making before he remembered. Link’s grip on Gin’s reins tightened, but she didn’t complain, only brought down her head and nuzzled him far to softly for a horse of her size. Link’s brain started moving again, but far too slowly to really process much, he never expected it would be a Korok that would undo his days of stubbornly not thinking about his friend. 

Link tugged at Gin to follow, who for a horse sent a very impressive unimpressed look, but she followed after him all the same, and though she acted unaffected by the disturbing atmosphere they walked through he could tell she was eying the trees with the gaping maws with the same uncertainty and weariness he had the first time he had come. 

The Korok was an energetic though abnormally patient guide, never straying more than ten feet from Link, pausing to let Link help Gin untangle herself from trees, and even once pointing out a chest and almost near forcing Link to open it (he got a topaz, which he’s pretty sure was some sort of cosmic F-you). Because of the slow pace, it took them a little longer than what Link would assume was normal, (though considering it took Link two days to figure out the puzzle the first time, this was relatively fast), and they arrived at the canyon leading to the village after around 40 minutes of walking. 

“Thank you,” Link nodded to the Korok, who laughed again and did a circle around him, probably just for its own amusement.

“Anytime, anytime~” it hummed, bouncing off down the road, and stopping again at around ten feet to wait for Link and Gin, “Anything for our Wildling!” 

Link didn’t really know what to say in response to that; he still wasn’t sure what a Wildling was, so he just nodded again and kept following the bouncing Korok all the way to the Korok Forest. Whereas soon as Link stepped through the end of the canyon, dozens of Koroks are poofing into existence in front of him with “hellos!”, “welcome backs!”, and “play with us!”.

"I would love to play, just very busy now," Link tried to assure the swarm of Koroks now surrounding him.

Coming to his rescue, Hestu bounded over shaking his maracas at the hoard of tiny forest spirits, “Oh let the Wildling be, Shalaka lala. He’ll play if he wants to play!” 

There was a chorus of sad whines and sighing goodbyes, even a few “see you later!” promises and with another round of poofs the swarm of Koroks was gone, including his little guide. 

Hestu turned to him with an embarrassed expression, rubbing the back of his head, “Sorry about that Shalaka lala. They get so excited when they hear you’re coming to visit us. You should have seen them fight over who would get to escort you here!” he laughs, and Link feels the smallest of amused smiles tug at his lips.

“Oh, would you like me to put your horse by the Inn?” 

Link looks up at Gin, who’s giving him a stern look of ‘no, do not leave me with this strange creature, do not do it, Link.’ But he also sees the way her head is slightly lower than usual, the way she’s slowly blinking her eyes to fight a rest she so desperately needs, and Link’s mind is made up.

Link holds out her reins, and Gin huffs irritably but doesn’t protest when Hestu starts to lead her away around the side of the Great Deku Tree. 

“Oh, and will Dusk be joining us? I can tell the Koroks to help him get here as-,” 

“No,” Link says, the relaxed smile that had been spreading across his face gone in a flash, “No, he’s not coming.” 

“That’s a shame Shalaka lala,” Hestu sighs, “See you later, Wildling!” 

And Link is left alone in the middle of the Korok Forest, or well almost alone. A great tree stands before him, older than Link can comprehend, a gentle guide on his journey, a helping hand. If anyone can help it is the ancient creature in front of him. 

But before that-

Link turns to the raised pedestal in the center of the forest, the overgrown shrine used by dozens of legends to prove their worthiness to be the next hero. Link carefully pulls the sword from his back, it’s still hot against his palm even through the layers of fabric, but it’s seemed to have calmed down in this place of ancient magic. Maybe it knows what he’s doing. If Link really stops and thinks about, Renia probably has a better chance of finding the sword if he leaves it here than if he keeps it on him. The sword burns in response as if sensing his thoughts. Link has half a mind to keep the thing out of spite if nothing else. 

“Wildling,” a deep echoing voice calls from above him, its old, and its tone is tinged with affection and twined with just enough exasperation to be chastising. “Do not make enemies with the sword of legend.” 

Link wants to point out that it was the sword who started it, but then he really would sound like a child being chastised by their parent, so he keeps his mouth shut. 

“We all know your time together was going to be short. It is time both of you rest from this burden.” 

Link’s never thought about the sword considering him as a burden before. It somehow makes the whole situation feel even worse, and something black and poisonous twist around his spine. But he ignores the suddenly heavy feeling and the whisper of _worthless, fake, false hero_ in his ear to unwrap the sword. It’s hot, but it doesn’t burn him as he walks up the steps to the ancient pedestal that’s housed the “sword that seals the darkness” for hundreds of years. He lifts the blade high and brings it down as hard as possible, lighting up the clearing with the divine blue light of Hylia. Link can’t stop his mind from wandering as the Master Sword reseals itself in front of him with swirls of divine light and whispers of prayers, can’t stop himself from wondering how things would be different if he was the real Hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this one took longer, I had to split this chapter up because the pacing felt weird and it felt a bit disjointed so I had to heavily edit it. (and I'm a little bit of a perfectionist(if you haven't noticed all the post published edits I've already done to the previous chapters....), so I wanted it to be perfect before I updated). 
> 
> I also had to go back and play a little bit of Breath of Wild again so I could take screencaps of who was who and where for reference, and I might have gotten sucked into playing for a few hours... 
> 
> Well, as always thank you for reading! Leave a comment or kudos if you like(I love hearing what everyone thinks!). See you next time! :)


	6. To Love is to Break Apart and Not Fear Being Put Back Together Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link learns things about his absent companion, finally lets himself properly grieve, and relearns that he's not alone.

Link spends the 1st day after arriving in the Lost Woods, asking around the Korok Forest about the different kinds of fairies. He’s met every time with the same response, “I’m sorry Wildling,” it's most often coupled by a long pause, then either a joke or an offer to play. Link never laughs or agrees. 

He even teleports to the Dah Hesho Shrine to visit the Great Fairy Mija and ask her if any of her sisters could help him. As soon as the question is out of his mouth, he already knows the answer. The pitying sad look in her eyes tells him enough. He nods his thanks and spins around in a last-ditch attempt to track down one of the dragons. 

A chiming voice stops him from pushing the button to teleport to Hylia Lake. “I cannot help you, Wildling, but I can at least tell you why.” 

Link stills, confused as to where this could be going but nods, all the same, placing the slate away to listen. 

“Dusk was no ordinary wolf. I’m sure you noticed this, you are exceptionally smart, Wildling, I know you did. The magic of my sisters and me would not bring him back, even if all of us were somehow able to combine our strength. I do not know how you found him or why he chose to follow you Wildling, but you must have noticed his divinity. Dusk was a divine beast in the truest sense. A creature blessed by Hylia’s own hand. No fey magic can challenge the will of the gods.”

Link did notice. He always tried to ignore it, though. He knew Dusk completed tasks no normal wolf should be able to achieve. He knew Dusk was far smarter than an average animal, he knew. He just chose to ignore it because the alternative was that Dusk was a holy creature sent to Hyrule for a mission, a mission he abandoned in favor of keeping Link safe and sound. And the guilt that it might have been Link that caused Dusk’s death, that it was him that caused Dusk to fall out of favor with his Goddess to the point she let random Hylians kill him, hurt even more than his death. 

Link spends the 2nd day visiting shrines to the Goddess in a desperate attempt that she will forgive him for leading her divine beast astray and will bring him back, even at the price of Link never seeing him again. Unlike every other time Link has prayed before the Goddess, she doesn’t reach out to him. He can sense that she is watching him. Her presence is as hard to miss as the Calamity, a power that cannot be contained and is only not overflowing across the world because she instead calls the heavens home rather than Hyrule itself. Link knows it is her; her presence has become more familiar to him than even the sick black feeling of malice; a strong and steady beat of power that rustles Link’s hair with an unnatural wind and the faint sound of wings rustling just within earshot but sourceless in direction. Though her gaze is upon him, she does not speak, does not answer his prayers, the Goddess remains as still and silent as her stone likeness he prays before.

Link doesn’t know what he did wrong. Was this punishment for not passing the sword to its next hero? Link didn’t want to think that the Goddess who had helped him would do that, the divine creature who knowing Link wasn’t her hero still gave him a chance to save Hyrule, but this was also the being that created the sword that burned him simply because he wasn’t the right hero. He didn’t know, and he hated himself for even considering giving the sword to Renia. Dusk would never forgive him. But Link wasn’t sure he could forgive himself knowing there was something he could do to help, and he chose to turn away. 

Link intends to spend the 3rd day following in his Queen’s footsteps (as much as the thought makes something uncomfortable shift in him). The ghost memories of the man he once was were good for something, and that was giving him insight on how the Princess of Wisdom prayed with the Goddess and where the best places to pray in such a manner where. He was about to head to the Spring of Power when a familiar ancient voice halted his movements.

“The Goddess will not answer you, Wildling. You pursue a fool’s errand.”

Anger, grief, and helplessness mixed into a deadly poisonous creature in Link’s heart. He was trying so hard to fix this, he had taken the mantle of a hero he was never supposed to be, but still, he lived and saved the day. Why couldn’t the gods let him have peace? Why couldn't Link have one thing after everything? His life was created for the sole purpose of filling the duty of a dead man. He did that duty. He should be free now. He shouldn’t have to pray for hours in cold pools hoping to hear an absent god’s voice. He had paid his price! More than any one man should. When does Link get to have his fairy tale happily ever after like all the other Heroes of Legend? When does his story get to be happy!?

“I don’t care,” he snapped, thoughts racing to fast to fully understand, but the anger kept building anyway, “I don’t care, I’ve done everything she’s asked of me, I’m not-,” Link’s throat closed, and he couldn’t force the words out of his mouth no matter how much he wanted to yell them. He wanted to scream it wasn’t fair, wanted to rage and shout everything locked in his head to the Goddess who had done this, to all the gods who had allowed this. 

“You have suffered a great loss Wildling.” The Great Deku Tree continued, sympathy leaking like sap from its words, but Link didn’t want sympathy, Link wanted answers. He wanted to know why he was so different, why wasn’t he able to be the real Hero, why he had to suffer when so many got to be happy? “Your heart bleeds and cries. Know that the forest mourns with you. But you must let yourself grieve. It will not get better until you do.”

And Link’s anger broke like a twig against the lighting in a storm. Everything he had been stubbornly avoiding, the tears he had been forcing down, the pain he had been shoving aside in favor of action, the hope he had kept alive for a way out flickered away, and in its place, grief and acceptance took deep root of his heart. 

Link buckled like a broken doll, collapsing in on himself as he finally mourned the truth. His oldest and closest friend was dead. There would be no undoing this, the Great Deku Tree was right, this was the cycle of life, Link knew it better than any creature. Death was the natural collusion of life, and it brought new beginnings. The hatred for the people who had done this still simmered in the back of Link’s mind, but he knew with time that would be forgiven too (he tried to stubbornly hold on to that anger though, accepting death didn’t mean accepting murder). 

Whether because of the days without sleep, the consent refusal to even let his body rest for a moment in his quest for a solution, or just the sheer exhaustion of finally grieving, Link faded into the darkness of a deep dreamless sleep.

Link wakes slowly the next morning, his mind hazy from sleep and the emotional turmoil his body so recently went through. He didn’t feel bad, just, a little empty. Link was used to the empty. It was a familiar feeling before Dusk; Link could get used to it again. The first thing he registers as he fully starts to wake is that he’s warm, unnaturally warm. There’s a brief moment of panic, before Link’s instincts settle again as he senses no danger and the familiar hum of ancient magic rustles through his hair along the breeze. He opens his eyes slowly, having to blink a few times to adjust to the bright light. Link mentally scolds himself for apparently sleeping the day away, but if the lingering heaviness in his bones is any indication he probably needed it. 

The next thing Link notices is that he’s not alone. Hundreds of Koroks, all varying in size and shape were gathered around him in piles and mounds, all sleeping and snoring without a care in the world. Butterflies, bees, beetles, and other insects rested atop many of the forest spirits, also apparently asleep. A tiny blossom of something _warm_ , fluttered in his chest at the sight. A huff next to his ear had him turning and behind him, laying on the ground acting as his pillow, was Gin. She looked annoyed or as annoyed as a horse could look, covered in at least a dozen Koroks and with flowers woven into her dark chestnut mane. Link didn’t fight the smile that spread across his face as he gave her a gentle pat and a quiet thank you. 

There was a rustling in the branches above him, and few pink petals drifted from the branches above to join the already large blanket of blooms that covered him and the surrounded Koroks. Link turned his eyes upward, realizing that he had been moved in his sleep to a location at the direct base of the Great Deku Tree. 

“Wildling,” the great tree calls in a whisper along the wind, “We were worried.”

Red flushes to Link’s cheeks against his will. He never meant to worry anyone. It was never something he had to concern himself with before. Dusk was the only one who was worried about him and then later, Gin. And though they could both give concerned and scolding looks, they couldn’t speak. It hit different to actually hear someone say that they were worried for Link. It felt somewhat nice. 

“Sorry,” he whispered back, but it was enough to jolt awake the sleeping creatures in his lap. With a chime and a faint buzz, a handful of glowing blue lights with white butterfly wings were dancing in front of his eyes, twinkling excitedly and circling around him with a sound close to jingle bells. “Fairies?”

“They were in your bag Wildling.” The Great Deku Tree explains, still letting the wind carry his voice like a whisper as to not disturb the resting Koroks. “They wanted to help.”

“Ah,” Link didn’t know quite what to say to that, he knew the fairies would heal him if he was injured enough, but Link always thought it was because he had helped the Great Fairies. He always had to sneak up and catch them if he wanted to keep some on his person(or rather in his slate), and they’ve never spoken to him before. “Thank you.”

The tiny fairies chimed again in a somewhat unified “Your welcome, Wildling” before floating down and making themselves at home in the hood of his cloak. 

“Wildling,” the great tree called once more, as with a creaking of wood, a large tree branch lowered itself slowly to the ground near Link (though above the nearby Koroks’ heads). “I believe it is time I tell you of what you are, child.”

“’What I am’?” Link echoed, already getting to his feet, excitement for finally having the answers and fear of the answers not being what he wants mixing in his stomach.

“Yes,” The Great Deku Tree confirms, as Link carefully picks his way around Koroks to hop onto the offered branch. “It is time I tell you what the title of Wildling means.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was super different then what I had planned originally in my notes(it didn't even exist in my original outline!), but I kinda like it! I hope you guys do too! 
> 
> Leave a comment or a Kudos if you want (I do love seeing that you guys like this little story!)
> 
> See you soon! :)
> 
> ...  
> P.S. I know I said we would get to learn about the Wildling title this chapter, but it ended itself so nicely with that cut off (and the chapter was about to be the longest I have written so I had to save the reveal for the next chapter guys.) Sorry!


	7. Learn What You Are, Learn What You Are Not, and Become What You Are Meant to Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link learns what being the Wildling means.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is!!!
> 
> The Chapter everyone has been waiting for! Oh, I'm so excited to see what you guys think!
> 
> Enjoy! :)

Link is slowly and carefully brought up into the high bows of the tree, high enough so that whispered conversation(at least on Link’s part) will no longer be necessary, and Link can finally see the face of the ancient being. It was weird at first to see the large smiling face of the Great Deku Tree, especially after spending literal days with the open mawed trees in the Lost Woods. But now, the sight of the wooden smile is welcoming and familiar. 

“I must confess something first, Wildling, though I believe you already know, I must make sure before I explain further,” the wind whispers gravely in his ears as the boughs above him shake ever so gently in the faint ever-present breeze of the forest. 

Link’s not sure what the Great Deku Tree could be referring too, but he agreed to listen, so no matter what he’s told, he will listen to the end. _‘And nothing could ever be as bad as losing Dusk’_ , the still slightly hollow feeling in his chest reminds him. 

The tree continues in an even softer tone, as though this ancient creature of old magics long lost to the rest of the world is afraid of being overheard (by what Link really doesn’t want to know), “You are not Hylia’s Chosen. Ever since you awoke by the hands of the Sheikah’s ancient technology, you haven’t been the Hero. I am sorry Wildling.”

Anger simmers in Link’s veins but doesn’t bubble over. He understands why they wouldn’t say anything. Hylia had pretended he was the Hero, and even though the ancient and powerful creatures of the land could see he was not. Link was their only chance at being free from the Calamity. And they at least did him the service of never calling him Hero; they were at least that kind. So although Link is mad, he understands, he isn’t sure he would have finished the quest had he been told he wasn’t really the Hero, even though he always had his doubts. 

Link takes a deep, steady breath and responds, “I knew,”

It’s quiet for a moment, just the silence of the wind whistling through the high boughs of the ancient tree and slow breaths escaping Link’s lips. Then the Great Deku Tree speaks again, “I am truly sorry Wildling. The Goddess does favor you, but… not because you are her chosen.”

That had Link’s ears perking up in interest. The Goddess did favor him? And she a reason? A reason known to the Great Deku Tree?

“You are the Wildling. You might not be her chosen Hero of Legend, but you are a hero.”

“But you just said-,” 

“You are not her Hero child. But you are still a hero.” The Great Deku Tree cuts off with a firm tone. 

Link feels himself freeze, body tensing as the words process in his brain. He’s a hero. Not the Chosen Hero of Hylia, but another kind of hero? What did that even mean? Was there another kind of hero to be? Link didn’t know there were options. The old legends only told of the One Hero, the True Hero, Hylia’s Hero. Didn’t that still make him a fake anyway?

As though sensing his swirling and quickly descending thoughts, the Great Deku Tree continues, “You are the child born of the wilds, a life intertwined so tightly with the old magics that runes and prayer are second nature. You are a being built to survive.”

Link can almost feel the dots connect in his brain, every time he corrected Purah when she was explaining the runes on his slate, his memories of Zelda never getting an answer from the Goddess but her presence every time he walked anywhere near one of her shrines, and how he woke up with the ability to fight and live as though he was made to do it.

“You are a creature of life, and the veil that hides the natural magics of the world to other creatures of the world does not apply to you.” 

Link remembers the first time he picked up a strangely placed rock only to be met with an equally confused Korok, who was overjoyed to follow him around the Great Plateau for a few hours, telling him puns before getting bored and leaving him with a Korok seed and disappearing with a “poof.” The first time he crossed Hylia Lake, Farosh rose from the lake, and Link panicked and backtracked to the other side. How insane he felt because no one else was reacting to the giant dragon, and he was convinced the weight of being the “Hero” had finally gotten to him. When he tried once to tell Pikango about the fairy fountains, and even though the picture contained a picture of Cotera entirely out of her pool, all he could see was the flower she rested in. 

“You are a being made to be free and unchained by the civilized world. Your life was not made by the gods. It was made by the raging rivers, the rolling hills, the thundering storms, the burning wildfires, and the endless ocean. Someone who can protect and guide that fragile life-the hero of nature-that is you, Wildling.” 

That meant that every single thing Link had ever considered “wrong” or “different” about him. The things that made Link not feel like he belonged with other Hylains. There was a reason? It was because he was bound to another sacred duty and another impossible expectation. Link doesn’t know how many more people’s heroes he can be. He had done his best to be Hylia’s and look where that got him-tossed aside like a broken weapon. Link didn’t want to be left by the people who promised to help him anymore. _I don’t want to be alone anymore._

There is a long pause, and Link wonders what else there could possibly be, what other catch could the Great Deku Tree have(because there’s always a catch with Heroes), before the voice comes again, this time with a breeze he can barely feel and voice he can just hear, “That is who you are Wildling. You are not Hylia’s Hero, but the wild’s hero.” 

There's a chiming in his ears, and Link suddenly remembers this conversation isn't as private as he thought it was. The fairies buzz within his hood and one floats out from the floods of dark blue fabric to hover in front of him with a bright blue glow and happy chime, “Our hero!” the tiny voice repeats, pushing itself into Link’s chest where on pure instinct alone he reaches up and cups the little fairy in his hand. It's so small in Link's hand and it gives off a faint feeling of warmth, like a living flickering candle, Link fears if he holds it too close he'll snuff it out like a candle too. But the fairy just glows brighter and makes a sound close to the ringing of a cat’s collar bell. “One of us!”

Link doesn’t even realize he’s crying until the first tear lands the fairy, and it makes a shrill chime, and suddenly, all five fairies are worriedly circling Link and nuzzling themselves into his hair and chest, trying to make him feel better. Link can’t help it. He cries harder. Despite the tears that keep sliding down his face, he scoops the fairies up into his hands and brings them into himself in the closest mimicry of a hug he can manage with the tiny creatures. Chimes of “sad?” echo in his ears as he holds the delicate creatures close. He can only shake his head ‘no,’ too full of emotions he can’t even being to decipher, it feels like his heart is a jumbled mess, too much paint on a too small canvas, but he knows that whatever he’s feeling it’s a good thing. 

The wind brushes by him, gentle and carrying the voice of a being that truly has always been looking out for him, “I did not mean to cause you such turmoil Wildling.” The breeze becomes but a wisp of wind and tugs ever so slightly on his clothes, as the Great Deku Tree’s tone shifts, “But I have been informed by the forest children that they are looking for you so they can begin their game of hide-and-seek.”

Despite the tears still clinging to his eyes, Link can’t help but laugh. It’s a broken wheezing sound that Link’s immediately embarrassed about, but the fairies are chiming happily and glowing brighter than he’s ever seen them, and the Great Deku Tree is giving him a fond look he’s never seen before. The embarrassment eases into a gentle warmth, and Link thinks he could maybe get used to being the Wild’s Hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was it what you expected? Did you like it? Would you change anything if you could?
> 
> Turns out the biggest problem with this chapter was naming it. (If you hadn't noticed I like my flowery chapter titles). But I just couldn't for the life of me figure out a good one for this chapter. (and I ended up giving it the longest chapter title to date, oops)
> 
> As always you can leave a comment or a kudos down below. (Thanks for reading!)
> 
> See you guys next chapter! :)


	8. Can You Steal a Fate That was Never Yours?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link realizes something that makes him decide its time to become a real hero (sorta).

“Got you!” Link shouts as he scoops up the unlucky Korok, who wasn’t as fast as their friends. 

“Yahaha~” It laughs, bouncing in his hands with a shower of magically appearing leaves and golden sparks, “You found me!”

“Found?” Link echoes tucking the Korok under his arm to free up his hands so he can snatch another giggling forest spirit out of the air, “I caught you, not found you.”

“You caught me!” the two Koroks in his arms sing, as he laughs and places them with the other 30 or so already captured Koroks. 

Link eyes the captured Koroks suspiciously as he adds their two new friends to the dirt circle on the ground deemed the “capture zone” by Hestu (who was also on Link’s team of “it” but had yet to catch a single Korok), “Weren’t there more of you?”

The Koroks blink back at him with faux innocence and chime “Yahahaha, No~,” altogether. If Link wasn’t sure before, he’s absolutely sure now. He hums but decides to drop it. There are hundreds of Koroks in this forest; he was never going to catch them all in the first place. 

It had been a week since Link had learned of his true place in the world and the meaning behind his title of Wildling. Link had been rather emotionally and physically drained after so many revelations, so he stayed another night in the Korok Forest. But when Link tried to leave the following day, he found he was essentially blocked from doing so. The Koroks(though the Great Deku Tree was no help and the fairies that used to call his slate home were just as bad as the forest spirits) said he needed to take some time off from being a hero and rest. Link was pretty sure the Koroks were just bored and wanted to play(he didn’t know there were so many ways to play children’s games), but he had to admit it was kinda fun to do nothing for a bit.

Link nods in thought and turns back to the woods where he can eyeball at least a dozen Koroks just watching him from the nearby trees, possibly his escapees. Link decides to ignore them in favor of the more challenging prey, Link swears he can see the Koroks he’s passing frown and mutter to themselves. ‘Too easy,’ Link thinks to himself as he heads for the northwestern part of the Korok Forest, where he remembers seeing Maple head off. (Over the last week of Link’s enforced relaxation and rest. He had taken to naming some of the more rememberable forest spirits. And because they are Koroks it’s become the new game. Maple was one of the first Link had given a nick-name too(because he couldn't remember their real name), and the Korok lorded the fact over their brethren. Maple was named for the simple fact they were eye-catching and easy to recognize with their bright red maple leafed face.) 

He spends a good five minutes turning over every rock in the nearby area, running into every vaguely suspiciously placed flower, and thoroughly poking into every nook and cranny he can get himself into. Just as he’s wondering whether Maple has already moved on or if they had somehow figured out how to get into the Daag Chokah Shrine without a Sheikah Slate, a faint laugh echoes above him. Link sighs, ‘I always forget to look up.’ And sure enough, floating a few feet above him, probably shadowing him the entire time, is Maple. 

Link takes a running jump up and off the wall, and the Korok squeals a happy laugh as he grabs it right out of the air, causing both of them to tumble to the ground.

“Yahahaha~,” Maple sings, wiggling in his grip, as Link gets to his feet. “You must be a frog, Wildling!”

Link blinks, pausing in his attempt to one-handed untangle a twig from his hair to give Maple a confused look before understanding hits him like a Lynel.

“Don’t-,”

“Because you’ve got hops!” Maple giggles. Link groans and drops the Korok so he can properly facepalm. But he’s smiling at the terrible joke anyway. The maple leafed forest spirit doesn’t take the chance to run; it just floats next to him, with a ridiculous grin and haze of golden leaves. 

“You’re free to go. Your awful joke saved you,”

“But you caught me Wildling!~,” Maple protests forcing themselves into Link’s arms with a stubborn pout, “Caught!”

Link laughs and starts heading back towards the central part of the Korok Forest, where the ‘caught zone’ was set up, and where Link was sure Hestu would be standing with an apologetic expression. Maybe if he went with Hestu on his next round, the poor guy could finally-,

Link stops, everything in his body telling him something is wrong. It takes another second for the exact reason to hit though, the Korok Forest, a place usually so full of life, is dead silent. Only the ever faint magic-infused breeze makes any sound as it rustles through the canopy of leaves above him. Link pulls Maple closer to him, switching his hold from a sack carry into a hug. Maple doesn’t say anything. 

Link takes hesitant steps towards the grove where the circle for the game should still sit. Link’s not sure of anything anymore, though. The quiet unnerves him. He doesn’t see any other Koroks either. That’s somehow worse. 

It’s when he’s just about to crest the ridge to the pedestal of the Master Sword, to the entrance to the Great Deku Tree, to where the dirt circle for their silly game of tag should sit that Link hears the first sound. A faint chime, a sound like bells on the wind. ‘A fairy,’ Link thinks, and the tenseness in his muscles eases, ‘the fairies were always the first to run, if they are here, everything must be fine.’

Link rounds the corner just as the second sound reaches his ears, footsteps, several heavy booted footsteps. 

It feels like time freezes.

Link stands statue-still, completely out in the open as he stares in a mix of shock and horror at the group of armored Hylians before him—the familiar group of armored Hylains. There’s more than he remembers, ‘eight’ his brain supplies as he glances over their figures and equally shocked faces. But it’s only been two weeks. He hadn’t forgotten what the murderer of his best friend looked like. And the man with the gray wolf pelt stands near the front of the group flanking the side of the one-eyed man. 

Anger simmers in his gut, but Link knows it would do him no good to get angry now. He knows he can’t take them, and they’ve already proved themselves strong enough to kill a divine beast. He doesn’t know what they want, but he has to get his friends away. The Hylains aren’t Link’s responsibly anymore, the Koroks and other creatures of the wild are. He was the Wildling, the hero of nature, and he would do his job. 

Link quickly scans the clearing and finds what he was looking for, floating around the Master Sword(maybe to protect it, maybe in hopes, it would protect them, Link doesn’t know), are the five fairies. Link notices too late that his shift in attention has caused some of them to turn as well.

“H-Hey!” Link shoats. His voice creaks and hurts. His mouth is dry, and his throat burns, but he forces the words out past his fearful tongue, “what are you doing here? This-this is sacred ground!”

They seem just as shocked as he is that he managed to say so much, but his words severed their purpose, the members of the group who were turning stop, and instead refocus on him. Link wants to hide. He never wants to be looked at like a puzzle again. But this is his purpose, and these people have caused him enough pain.

An echo of bells rings across the field, the one-eyed man whips around, and Link’s afraid he’s going to make a grab for the fairies as they race past the Hylians, but the man only watches them pass with a lost expression. The fairies reach Link and circle around him, chiming apologies and reassurances, but their tiny voices blend together, and Link can’t understand a thing they are saying. 

Link can feel how the Hylians are watching him. It makes his skin crawl in a way he can’t quite exactly describe. He raises a hand to his hood, and its all the signal the fairies need before they are burrowing into the hood and out of sight(and hopefully out of mind).

“I asked your business,” Link repeats edging around the clearing until he can stand in front of the Great Deku Tree. Link’s a little confused as to why it hasn’t said anything yet, but maybe it’s also trying not to bring attention to itself, maybe this is a test for Link.

The one-eyed man steps forward and Link’s whole body tenses ready to move, to attack, to run, “we come seeking the Hero of this Hyrule.”

That…that was a very oddly phrased statement. ‘This Hyrule’ implied there were others. Link knew there weren’t. He had traveled as far as he could, pushed the boundary of this world several dozen times over, he would know of another land.

The man must take Link’s silence as a sign to continue, “We seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot,” there’s a pointed look back towards the wolf pelt wearing man, who has the guts to look sheepish about wearing the cloak of a divine beast. Link feels himself get even angrier. “We need you to help-,”

“No,” Link bites, not caring how he snarls the word and barely noticing how the wind picks up with his declaration. “I’m not your hero, leave.”

That seems to take the group off guard. Were before they looked curious and mildly bored, but with an undercurrent of confidence, now they look startled and surprised and, for the first time, shaken. Maybe Link has a bigger hand than he thinks.

One of the member's Link hadn’t been paying much attention to steps forward, a worried crease to his young-ish brow. He wears a too-large white cape and a light green tunic, and besides, the sword-shaped package on his back looks unarmed. “But you wield the Master Sword you have to be-,”

“Sky,” the leader interjects and the other member ‘Sky’, visibly deflates and moves back to rejoin the group. Link shifts his eyes back to the leader.

“As I said, we are sorry for any bad blood we might have caused you and your people,” the man’s eyes ever so briefly flash to Maple in his arms, and Link curses himself for forgetting that within the holy grounds of the Korok Forest the nature spirits were visible to all. “But, we truly are here for your aid.”

Link hears the growl before he’s fully conscious of the fact he’s the one making the sound, “I’m done being your hero, save yourselves for a change. The Calamity is gone. You have nothing left to demand of me! I’ve done more than enough for your-,”

“Wildling.” A firm yet gentle voice cuts in from above him, and Link releases the breath he didn’t notice he was starting to choke on. “Breathe.” The Great Deku Tree advises, as the fairies buzz in his ears, and Maple pokes his chest to a rhythm. Link hadn’t even noticed he had started to wind himself so tight he forgot to breathe. But he stops and dose as they say. Link can feel the Hylians stares, but he ignores them, and after a moment, he’s back to normal.

“You are the Great Deku Tree,” the one-eyed man says like that should be an impossible feat, his gaze lifted up towards the giant spirit.

“Yes,” the ancient tree responds with a rustle of its branches, causing a soft rain of cherry petals to fall on top of all of them. “And you are the young hero I remember planting me in the ground so very –very long ago.”

Link looks up at the Great Deku Tree confused. He’s heard this story from the Great Deku Tree himself, but that story was about a past Chosen Hero, one of the greatest, one of the first, the Hero of Time. This man couldn’t…

Link looks at the group, really looks at them, past his rage, and his fear, and he noticed the same untethered other world-ness he remembered from that first night. That vague sense of staring at a dream that he thought he had imaged in his worry and fear, that feeling was present in all of them. Along with a familiarity, he could see echoed in the memories he held of Renia, in the memories of the soul that once inhabited his body. They were Heroes. All of them were past and maybe future Heroes of Hylia.

But why were they coming for him then?

“We are sorry to disturb you,” the Hero of Time continued, putting a stop to his groups’ confused and excited chatter, “It is good to see you are doing well, but we have come by order of Hylia for the Hero of this world.”

The Great Deku Tree rustled, and a heavy cold wind blew through the clearing. “You saved me once-great Hero, and I know you to be true of heart. That is why I let you enter this place. But heed this warning Heroes of Legends long forgotten. This Child belongs to the Wilds, and we shall not give him to you.”

While the other Hylians all took several steps back and some let out gasps of shock or surprise. Link could only feel his chest grow warm. The Great Deku Tree was threatening the Hero he loved and idealized since he was a sproutling for him. Link didn’t think he had ever felt this loved.

“Great Deku Tree we simply-,”

But the tree did not let him finish, “Come Wildling,” The Great Deku Tree beckoned, opening its twisted roots to allow him access into its heart, where Link could see dozens of Koroks gathered at the entrance waiting for him. Hestu leaned forward towards the break in the bark of the great tree, motioning for Link to come inside.

The yelling voices of the Heroes of Legend echo behind him, 

“Please, we cannot leave without the Hero of this Hyrule!” 

“It’s not very Hero-y of you to run, you coward!” 

“Hylia will just force you to come with us anyway!” 

“We saw you use the sword! We’re like you, we understand!” 

“If you’re scared it’s okay! We don’t look it, but we are really nice!” 

“Be a man and own up to your destiny already!” 

“Wait, let us discuss this!” 

He doesn’t pay any of them any mind as he turns to enter the secret chamber in the heart of Great Deku Tree, until one voice rises above the rest.

“I’m sorry.”

Link freezes, but turns only enough to see which of the members is talking. The man with face tattoos, messy dirt blond hair, and the gray wolf pelt. He shoulders past his comrades to reach the front of the group. His back is stiff, and he looks extremely uncomfortable, but Link can find no pity for the man. 

“I’m sorry for attacking you in the forest. We’ve spent many days in your home turf now. And it’s not the safest place I’ve ever roam’d. Many of us come from places where people don’t attack people. An we as good as ambushed you. I apologize.” He says, leaning forward ever so slightly in a small bow. The act brings back memories of guards calling him ‘Sir Link’ and the sad looks Zelda would send him whenever she thought he wasn’t looking. He has to fight down the urge to straighten his posture and reach for a sword that will never be on his person again.

The man lifts himself up, keeping his clear dark blue eyes locked with Link’s own, “I hate to force this on ya when ya’ve obviously been through so much already. But we need your help to complete one more quest for our Goddess.”

Link highly doubts he’s actually sorry, but he’s a damn good actor. If he didn’t know the man staring so intently at him was the murderer of his best friend, he would have believed his sincere expression of guilt and sadness. As it stands, Link’s not sure he can even trust the man’s thick country accent. 

“No,” Link shakes his head, turning back around to walk towards the opening in the Great Deku Tree.

“Please!” one of the other Hylians yells behind him, and Link is suddenly aware that they are moving closer to him. Link glances down at Maple, still clinging tightly to him in his arms, and he takes a steady breath as he leans down and gently places the Korok down on the ground. They make an urging sound and reach for him, but Link gently pushes Maple towards the rest of the Koroks.

He turns around to face the past heroes once again, this time filled with a sense of duty that feels right. He is the Wilding, the protector of life, the defender of nature, and the hero of the wilds. These blessed chosen of the Goddess will not take that from him.

The Hero named Sky steps forward once again, and Link can almost count the notches in his belt with how close he’s gotten, “Please Link,” and he tenses at the sound of his name on the other’s lips, “We know you’re the hero of this world, if you don’t believe we are who we say, we can ask the Master Sword?”

It’s phrased like a question, but one of the other members and Link has to do a double-take because that’s just a child, a child no older than 14 is skipping over to the Master Sword. And Link has a vision of the same scene, but the boy in the blue tunic is now a Sheikah girl with white hair and green eyes. 

Link opens his mouth to tell them yet again he’s not the hero, that he never possessed the Hero’s Spirit, that the sword hates him and him it, but his tongue stills, and not just from his normal fear of words twisting his tongue. 

These people are convinced he is the Hero, and normally Link would deny till his dying breath that title, he had finally accepted his place in the world. He was the Wildling, and he had spent the last week getting to let the title fully settle into his heart (even though it had always felt right to hear it was another to accept the responsibility of the word.) But… But if he tells them they have the wrong hero, then they will take the Master Sword, and it will tell them the truth.

Renia with her bright smile and un-haunted emerald green eyes appears in his mind, and he can’t utter a word. Even as the other child, the child that could so easily be Renia, reaches to pull the Master Sword out of its pedestal. His little hand only stilling by the chastising command of his leader, the Hero of Time. 

If Link denies the claim of hero, he damns yet another child to the curse of being Hylia’s Hero. He would damn a child, not even 6 to the life of a warrior. Renia with her loving family, with her paint-covered fingers and unbridled curiosity for the world she’s never seen. And these Hylians made it very clear they wouldn’t and couldn’t leave without a hero from this world, (and that they had no problems taking children). Link may be the fake hero, but he’s enough of a hero to not let them take an innocence. 

“I-,” Link shudders a breath into his lungs as the forest quietens, the group of past heroes takes a few moments more to offer the same courtesy of listening to his words, but eventually they too quieten their chatter. And the Lost Woods are as silent as a graveyard before a storm. Link tightens his fists and closes his eyes for a second to pray to the Goddess who he knows can hear him even though she chooses not to answer him now that he’s no longer useful to her plans. He prays that this isn’t a huge mistake he will regret. Link focuses back on the group of legends and forces his voice to work.

“I am the Hero.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter marks the end of what I originally had outlined for this story. (This is also the scene that started this crazy journey and I thank each and every one of you for coming along with me!)
> 
> I have a few rough ideas, and some parts of a few chapters written but they are mostly pieces and nothing super concrete. So the next chapter might take a while as I plan out the next arc and decide where I want the story to go (and end).
> 
> As always thank you for reading! Leave a kudos if you want and comment if you really liked it (I do so love reading what you guys think of this story and your theories and ideas are so interesting to read!)
> 
> Bye! :)
> 
> ....  
> In case anyone was curious about who was speaking when in the scene where they were all yelling, here's the answer key:  
> “Please we cannot leave without the Hero of this Hyrule!” -Hyrule  
> “It’s not very Hero-y of you to run, you coward!” -Legends  
> “Hylia will just force you to come with us anyway!” - Four  
> “We saw you use the sword! We’re like you, we understand!” - Sky  
> “If you’re scared it’s okay! We don’t look it but we are really nice!” -Wind  
> “Be a man and own up to your destiny already!” – Warriors  
> “Wait, let us discuss this!” - Time


	9. To Travel a Road with Unknown Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link says his goodbyes, forms tentative bonds with his new teammates, and begins his new quest as the fake hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **!!! Important(and Fun) thing in the Notes at the end of this chapter!!! :)**  
> 
> 
> Enjoy the story!

Silence. The Korok Forest was dead silent as Link stood before the group of myths made man, and didn’t waver. He had just spoken a lie he had spent his entire life running from and he just accepted the weight and title once again like he truly was born to do it. His mouth felt dry and Link was sure he wouldn’t be able to say another word even if his life depended on it. 

He watched as the Heroes smiled to each other and nodded, walked towards him as if to greet him as an old friend and not an imposter masquerading as one of their own. There was the faintest sound of rustling wings, just at the edge of Link’s hearing, directionless. Link tensed, he knew this presence, he knew it better than he did his own name some days. The Goddess was here, was watching. 

None of the Heroes seemed to notice. Perhaps they were drowned too thickly in her grace to catch such a causal brush of divinity in a place that shouldn’t, didn’t, couldn’t hold her power. Link ever so slightly turned his eyes upward, a question on the tip of his tongue that wouldn’t move. But she seemed to understand his intent anyway.

It was an echoing sound inside his head, in a voice of what Link would imagine a bird would sound like, airy, soft, and with a slightly musical cadence, “Go Hero.”

And she was gone.

And the forest came alive once more. 

“No!” 

Still slightly reeling after his ever so brief brush with the Goddess Link was certain wanted nothing to do with him. (Link couldn’t help himself from feeling so impossibly happy that she hadn’t abandoned him after all, that even though he wasn’t her chosen by birth she was still looking out for him. But he also felt guilty for being happy, because he wasn’t supposed to be her hero, he was the Wildling and it somehow felt traitorous to accept the help from the Goddess who knowingly took him from his rightful place in the order of the world.) Link turns at the voice, only to find a tiny army of Koroks swarming around him. Hundreds of voices call over one another as all the gathered Koroks plead his case and either glare angrily at the Heroes or up towards the sky, and Link takes strange comfort in knowing he didn’t just imagine the Goddess. The Heroes who had just been about to embrace him into their fold retreat quickly away from the hoard of fuming forest spirits. 

“You can’t take him!”

“He’s not your hero!”

“He’s ours!”

“Wildling?!”

Link fights the sudden urge to cry(though of what Link can’t quite put his finger on, and the conflicting emotions only make him want to cry more) and leans down towards the Koroks that pile around his feet and bounce along the faint ever consent magical wind that blows through the Korok Forest. “It’s okay,” he manages to croak, though his voice is hoarse and its hurts to speak, he still tries to smile at his friends.

They just shuffle closer to him and cry even louder, he tries to pat as many of them as he can. But he doesn’t know how long the Heroes will wait, and he doesn’t want to risk them getting impatient and finding Renia because he left them alone long enough to talk to the Master Sword.

Link extracts himself from the pile of teary-eyed Koroks who sniffle after him, but let him move off towards the side where Hestu has used the distraction of the other Koroks’ tearful goodbyes to gather Gin. Hestu sweeps Link up in a sobbing farewell of his own, not able to get any words out through his tears, and giving Link a crushing hug, but he understands anyway.

“Yeah, see you later,” He promises, and Hestu hands over the reins to Gin, who towers proud and noble over Link like she was born for the sole purpose of making Link feel small. Link gives her a solid pat, reassured that his trusted steed is back in full health, and starts to lead her towards the Heroes of Legend. 

The breeze turns cold and soft around him, carrying a voice along the wind, “Wildling” the Great Deku Tree calls as a shower of pink petals rains down from the treetops, “Please be safe. And remember, you will always have a home among the wilds.”

Link smiles at the words and turns around right before reaching the Heroes, who have also started to make their own way out of the grove. “I’ll remember.” He promises, and Link hates how much it sounds like a goodbye. 

Gin walks right next to Link as they make their way out of the Lost Woods. She’s giving the Heroes a rather impressive side-eye, and quite a few of the Hylains actively move away from her with something like fear in their eyes. Link files the information away for possible use later, as he moves to the front of the group and helps lead them out of the Lost Woods.

It’s a tense and silent few minutes as they walk through the fog-filled forest and its gaped mouthed trees, with only the sound of the wind and their boots disturbing the underbrush breaking the quiet. Link can feel the others' eyes on him, evaluating, calculating, planning. Link lets himself fall into the persona of the hero he was forced to wear for so many months and keeps his back straight and eyes forward. Heroes don’t show fear, Heroes don’t show anything. They are weapons of the gods, and Link might have had time to fight the empty void growing in his chest the past week. But without the warmth of fairy magic, or the bubbling laughs of Koroks Link doubts he will have a problem faking not feeling because the empty will just come back. It was already starting to gnaw at the back of his heart, whispering awful things _you’re a traitor to your dead friend! You chose Dusk’s killer over your real responsibility! Fake Hero!_ .

Link takes a steadying breath and forces the haunting thoughts away as he and the Heroes step out into the cloudy afternoon of the Great Hyrule Forest Region. 

There’s some noticeable shuffling behind him and Link turns around to face the Heroes who have all gathered in a small semi-circle to face him. The youngest, the boy of barely 14 steps forward in his bright blue tunic. And Link has to fight down the ghost of a memory it conjures in the broken shards of man he no longer is.

“Well now that we are all out of that creepy ass forest,” he either doesn’t notice or really doesn’t care about the disapproving looks he gets sent at that phrase and keeps talking. “It’s about time we introduced ourselves!” He skips forward and reaches out for Link. He’s moving away before he’s even fully registered that the kid had moved. Months of instincts fighting for his life kicking in, and he’s pulling away and falling into a defensive stance on pure reflex. 

Link feels just as surprised as the kid looks (and oh god it’s a kid, Link pulled away from a kid like he was a monster). But the kid is soon smiling a too-big smile and making a show of taking a few steps back while holding his hands in the air, “Sorry about that, forgot you’re a bit jumpy. Hehhe,” he laughs, no one joins him even as Link relaxes back into his straight-backed posture.

One of the other members, another man in full plate armor, but this one with a blue scarf and an oddly stylish blond haircut, steps forward, “What I believe Wind was trying to do was introduce all of us. I’m Warriors, and the kid is Wind.”

Link nods, grateful no one decided to press for answers for his strange behavior towards a child approaching him (Link will need to do his own self-reflection later about that one.) And he does his best to mentally file away the names, though he idly wonders why the legends of the past heroes never mentioned their terrible names.

The pink-haired Hylian crosses his arms and sends Warriors a glare, “You should have mentioned that our names come from our hero titles, you armored brain idiot,”

“Well, excuse me miss ‘I’ve been on the most quests and have the most experience,’ I didn’t see you stepping up to do it!” Warriors snaps back, doing an awful impersonation of the pink-haired Hero. 

“That’s just cause I wanted to watch you make a complete-,”

“Stop,” both of the Heroes deflate at the Hero of Time’s curt order. They keep glaring at each other, but it would seem the infighting is over. Link’s honestly surprised they have managed to make it so far if tensions are this high, but all of them seem to respect the Hero of Time, so it’s possible that by his leadership alone they are staying grounded. 

“As we were saying,” Time continues, turning his piercing blue eye to Link, “we go by nicknames, due to the fact we are all named Link. I am Time. That is Legend,” he points at the pink-haired Hero who started the fight and according to Warriors has been on the most quests. He’s carrying a large overstuffed bag and is also the only member in the group aside from the kid-Wind- to wear a color other than green, dressed instead in a red tunic.

“This is Four,” Time points to the shortest member in the group, who wears a tunic made of green, blue, red, and purple. He has shoulder-length blond hair and a belt around his waist full of tools and gadgets of which only a very few Link has ever seen, and what appears to be a permeant pondering face. 

“Hyrule,” he gestures towards the figure standing next to Four, who snaps to attention at his name, giving Link a nod and a little smile. He’s dressed the simplest compared to the others, but Link doubts that’s not on purpose, with his slightly too big green tunic and just a tad too long blond hair. Link will have to watch this “Hyrule”. He’s learned through too many Yiga knives to the back that it’s the ones who can blend in, that you have to watch out for. 

“This is the first hero, Sky,” Link gets directed to the white cape-wearing Hylain who blushes faintly at his introduction.

“I’m not that great, you have all done amazing things too! Just because I was first doesn’t mean anything!” he tries to defend, waving his hands around in the air like he's trying to banish the thought like a particularly annoying mosquito. 

“And…,” Time trails off shifting his eyes and everyone else’s attention to the last member in the group. The pelt wearing Hylain, who Link had fought previously and who “apologized” less than an hour ago. 

“I’m Twilight,” he nods towards Link, running a gauntleted hand through his hair, “Pleasure to meet ya.”

Four claps with a bright smile on his face, “Now that you know all our names, its time –“hey, that was funny!”-Wind cuts in- “it’s time that you got your own.”

Everyone turns to Sky expectantly, who flushes red again and begins speaking almost too fast to understand, “Well, you see I really don’t know, it’s really funny and kinda strange for some reason Fi isn’t really talking to me right now. I think she might be mad at me, but I’m not sure what I did to make her mad at me. Unless she's mad about me skipping my cleaning for her a few days ago- oh, no. Do you think that’s it!? Do you think she’s mad that i-,”

“Sky breathe dude, your fine.” Warriors laughs with a fond smile.

Sky takes several deeps breaths before he continues much slower this time, “Fi hasn’t really been talking to me so, uh, I can’t really do the normal thing. Sorry.”

Wind shrugs and turns to smile brightly at Link, “that’s fine he’s already got a nickname!”

“Oh, that’s right!” Hyrule says, joining the conversation with a small smile of his own, “Your name is Wildling rig-,”

“No.” Link spits the word. Enough venom lacing the two words to cower any normal Hylian. The Heroes all pause and look at him an array of confused, annoyed, and disappointed expressions. Link doesn’t care what they think, that title is for him and the creatures of the wilds, and he will not just hand it over like it’s nothing.

“Wild,”

Everyone turns to look at Twilight who’s giving Link a curious and slightly confused look, “If not Wildling, then how about Wild? Close enough that ya don’t have to relearn responding to a new name, but it’s still not the same so whatever makes that word important to ya, it’s still yours.”

Link doesn’t trust the consideration. It feels like some elaborate trap, but he has to admit this sounds like the best comprise he’s going to get(plus Link was always a dead man’s name it was never his). He nods slowly, waiting to see if the catch is coming quickly, but no one laughs and no one moves any closer to him or Gin. Maybe it was a long con? Though none of them seemed to be organized enough for that, though Link had only meet them twice. Perhaps it was just what it seemed to be, kindness for kindness’s sake. Link doubted it, but the thought alone that maybe these Heroes weren’t that bad was reassuring enough for some of the tenseness to ease out of his shoulders.

“Oh,” Legend pipes up turning around to face Link as they begin walking further away from the Lost Woods. “Probably should have mentioned this earlier, but whatever those creepy ass things were in the forest made me space it,” he points at Gin with a heavy frown, “you can’t bring the monster horse.” And there’s the catch. 

“Legend, don’t be mean, remember how broken up Twilight was about Epona?” Hyrule scolds in a soft tone. Link almost stops walking as the words fully register.

He’s about to ask about Epona, because was a magic horse part of the Hero’s Spirit too? Was that why the unusually spirited mare would only let Link ride her after he got the Master Sword and even then, he always felt like she was babying him? Was that why he always felt the steed was smarter than any other horse he had ridden and at times at an equal level of Dusk? Why it sometimes just felt weird to ride her? Because she too was part of the Hero’s Spirit he didn’t have?

Gin huffed and stomped at the ground, snapping Link out of his thoughts and back into the present conversation where the Heroes of Legend were arguing about different types of mounts. Gin was giving him an expectant look, as though she was waiting for him to jump in, arguing her case as the best stead. And though he wholeheartedly agreed, he doubted the heroes tied to the soul of a single horse would allow any other to upstage Epona. 

Link really didn’t want to leave Gin. Mostly because he wasn’t sure where he wanted to leave her. Best case scenario she got to run somewhat free in a safe field of rolling hills with other horses to tower above and boss around. But Link doubted he could find such a location with the apparent time crunch of the other Heroes. Sending her back to Korok Forest was an option but she had little room there. The Stables would care for her, but that risked Zelda…

Oh Goddess above, Zelda! Should he tell her? But tell her what exactly? He wasn’t the Hero but was going on a quest with past Heroes to protect the current Hero? Would she believe him? That was even assuming Zelda let him leave. No, it was probably better that Zelda thought he was off sulking in the woods somewhere. 

“Hey!”

Link is once again snapped back out of his head, only to find the group of Hylians gathered around him and staring at him worriedly and curiously. He starts to fold in on himself before a ghost of a scolding voice telling him to _“stand up straight up boy, heroes don’t slouch!”_ and he straightens back up, fighting the urge to run away from their prying eyes.

“Are you okay?” Hyrule asks, giving him a once over with his gaze, and Link fights down the urge to cringe away.

Link stiffly nods, he can tell many of them don’t believe him, but they don’t say anything as they shift away from him and he gets his first view of the thing they were standing in front of. It’s a swirling pool of magic hovering in the air not even 15 feet in front of him. A shiver races up Link’s spine as he stares at the slowly spinning vortex of blue and white energy. It feels like it’s trying to beacon him, though the force of the portal is only strong enough to gently tug at his clothes. It has a familiar feeling, a warm and gentle magic, feather-light. This is the Goddess’s magic.

“Weird right?” Four laughs looking over at him, whatever he reads on Link’s face is enough to have Four’s laugh die in his throat and for the Hero to quickly look away from him.

Time steps forward, and the gentle tugging grows just slightly more insentient, “You know the drill everyone. Once we step through that portal we will be in a new Hyrule. It’s one of Hylia’s portals so safety is more assured than with the enemy's portals. But let’s still keep our guard up. Single file. Twilight your first, Warriors behind him.” Link doesn’t miss the smug look Twilight sends Warriors who pointedly tries to ignore it, “I’ll bring up the rear, Wild your second last.”

It takes Link a second to remember he’s Wild, then another to realize he’s been singled out so that he will be alone with Time (when none of the others could possibly or even hope to overhear or help). Link keeps his posture proper and face neutral even as the other Heroes send each other confused looks at this order, before with a gentle nudge from Warriors they all start filing through the portal one-by-one. 

Link spends the minute waiting for his eventually chewing out (or death) at the hands of the most famous Hero to ever live, to pat Gin and whisper a soft goodbye to her. She looks annoyed at him, but nuzzles his hair in her favorite affectionate gesture. Then she’s turning around and heading back down the road towards the Korok Forest. Link hopes one of the Koroks comes to pick her up.

“Wild,”

Link slowly turns around, accepting whatever fate the Goddess and her Chosen have in store for him. Time is standing in front of the portal, an unreadable expression on his face, his arms crossed. He makes quite the imposing figure and Link’s staring to understand Kass’s stories about Hylia’s Heroes having a presence. Time seems to be looking for something in Link, staring him up and down, whatever he finds he nods. Link’s not sure it’s a good thing. “How much did the Great Deku Tree tell you about me?”

That… that was defiantly not what Link was expecting, he shrugs, trying to recall the story he was told less than a week ago. Most of the Heroes from the past had been reduced to nothing but myths and their titles, the Great Deku Tree had more information to give about the Hero of Time, but only that he saved a seedling that would one day become the current Great Deku Tree. Link assumed there was much more to the man in front of him than just saving a magical tree. 

Time hums at his lack of an answer and uncrosses his arms, an expression crossing his face too fast for Link to fully read, but it looked a bit like pain. “I was raised by the previous Great Deku Tree.”

Link opens his mouth, but words tangle on his tongue. Confusion, and an almost impossible spark of hope flutter in his chest. Time gives him a smile and reaches out towards him before stopping halfway, just letting his hand hover in the air between them. Link hates how much this feels like a choice. A choice he’s not even sure what the options are. A choice he’s scared to think about the consequences of. 

“We might not be as different as you think Wild, give us a chance,” Time offers, lowering his hand with a sad smile before his eyes flicker to something behind him and his smile grows just a tiny bit larger and genuinely happy, “I’ve never seen so many.”

Link glances over his shoulder to see what he’s talking about and crowding around the trees at the edge of the Lost Woods, watching him, are the Koroks. Hundreds, probably every single Korok in the village has gathered at the edge of the woods, just waiting. 

“Wildling!~” they sing as they notice him looking at them. Puffs of golden leaves spark into life around them, turning the gray afternoon into a golden magical firefly lit moment. With a loud popping sound, a golden acorn appears in Link’s hands. It faintly glows and if Link focuses on it he can just barely sense the old magic of the Lost Woods. “Don’t forget to come find us when you get back!~”

Link can’t fight back the tears as he nods, “I will,” he promises, stuffing the acorn into his pocket and all but running into the portal. Because he knows if he lingered he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to leave this world he’s given two lifetimes to protect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so long, I try to keep the chapters around 1,500 to 2,000 words but I let them be a little smaller or bigger depending on how the story flows. This chapter was over 3,000! 
> 
> Time was getting flashbacks the entire time(hehe) he was dealing with Wild. He totally believes that Wild had the same or at least a very similar upbringing to him.
> 
> **_!!! Fun Thing !!!_** -Where do you guys think our Heroes will end up first? Which Hyrule would you like to see first? (whoever guesses it right(please only one guess per user!) before the next chapter gets uploaded will get to request what my next Legend of Zelda one-shot will be about!(Within reason and I'll do my best!)) **\- !!!**
> 
> Well here's the new chapter! Hope you guys liked it! Leave a Kudos or a Comment if you want (I love reading them!)
> 
> See you next time! :)


	10. Innocence Fights to Protect Future Innocents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild(Link) arrives to his first other Hyrule. He learns more then he wanted too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats L! You got it right! :)
> 
> Leave a comment below with your idea for your one-shot and I'll try to have it done as soon as I can!
> 
> Thanks, everyone for your guesses and ideas (they actually helped me a bit!) 
> 
> Enjoy the new chapter! :)

There’s a tugging feeling just below Link’ s-Wild’ s-(he supposes he should just get used to calling himself that now, not like Link ever felt like his name), navel. In comparison to the feeling of being ripped apart atom by atom-like he is when he teleports via the Sheikah Slate, it isn’t that bad. And when the swirling portal spits them out, Lin-Wild, finds himself to be the only one standing. The Heroes are all scattered around him in the sand in various degrees of nausea, Four actually pukes. 

No one else seems ready to be up and moving around, so Wild takes a moment to compose himself and make sure it’s not noticeable he’s been crying. He makes sure the gift from the Koroks is still in his pocket before transferring it to his slate for safer keeping. After putting himself in order, and realizing the heroes are still in various states of recovery Wild begins to scan the nearby area, wondering where exactly they are. According to the others, it must be “Hyrule,” but if the Hyrules had as much variation as their Links, Wild doubted he would recognize anything important. 

Currently, they stand on a beach, with picture-perfect white-sand shores, with a scattering of palm trees and large seashells doting the ground. Wild leans down to where his boots are being gently lapped at by the waves to pick up a perfect sand dollar. He supposes they should thank the Goddess for not just dumping them in the ocean, but she was cutting it a little close. 

“Oh Fuck!”

Wild spins around dropping the sand dollar to pull a royal broadsword from his slate in a shower of blue sparks, readying for the attack. The others also jump to their feet and get ready with limited success as Wind starts running in between them, nearly bouncing out of his skin. 

“Fucking hell guys!” 

“Language Wind!”

“I’m a goddess damned pirate Time if I wanna curse I’m cursing like the sailor I was fucking raised to be!” he argues, spinning around to face Wild with big shining eyes, “This is my Hyrule!” 

Wild feels the tension drain out of him, and he watches as the others groan and put their weapons away, as they realize there isn’t actually a threat. Hyrule stumbles himself over to Four and starts rubbing his back, Warriors tries in vain to dust the sand out of his hair, and Legend scowls and begins picking up all the things that fell out of his bag in the shift. 

“Well, I’m very happy you are excited Wind, but do you know where exactly we are?” Sky asks tentatively from where he’s pulling himself out of the shallows. Looks like not all of them missed the ocean. Wild just wished it was Twilight who went for a swim instead. 

“Yeah, of course, I do!” Wind says, still bouncing from what Wild assumes is excitement, “I grew up on Outset Island, I could lead you guys around blindfolded, drunk, and bleeding out!” 

Everyone stops what they’re doing to absorb that metaphor, at least Wild really hopes it’s a metaphor or he’s going to have a real bone to pick with a certain Goddess.

Wind sighs and waves everyone’s stares off, “Figure of speech you landlubbers, Goddess.” He shakes his head and pulls a ruffled and sand-covered Twilight to his feet, “Come on, guys! There are so many things I want to show you!” 

The other Heroes manage to stumble to their feet, and gather all their belongings as Wind keeps rambling and weaving in between members of the group, pulling and tugging at them when they become too slow for his tastes. Wild’s not sure if Wind doesn’t approach him because he’s statsafied with how fast he’s walking or because the kid also remembers startling too well what occurred but a few short minutes ago. Either way, Wild is grateful for the lack of physical contact. 

“My pirate ship-well it’s kinda mine and Tetra’s, but still, it is awesome! Well, they are both awesome to be fair!” Wind continues to ramble, going on and on about his world and his adventures. Wild can almost believe it’s another one of Renia’s made up fairy tale adventures, and Wind is just another kid, not a Hero of Legend. At least he could if the 14-year-old in front of him didn’t scan the horizon like he was looking for enemies, if he didn’t glance up into every tree they passed like he was afraid something would jump out of it, and if he didn’t ever so slight tense whenever there was a distant bird call. 

“We have bird people here too! I know you guys don’t have bird people! And no Sky just because you can fly on a bird that doesn’t make you a bird person.” Sky lowers his hand from where he was about to interject, possibly to make the same point Wind just shot down. Wild wonders if he should mention that he has Rito, or rather 'Bird People' in his world. He decides it probably wouldn’t make a difference to whether or not Wind showed them, and the information isn’t really helpful, so he elects to remain quiet.

“And there are so many different islands I can show you guys! Have any of you even seen the ocean before?! I’m the best sailor around, so I can take you anywhere in my world!” Wind boasts. Wild’s not sure how he feels about a Hyrule made mostly of water. He’s swam in penalty of rivers and lakes, but the ocean was an entirely different thing. There was so little land, so little place to run and jump and explore. Though if Wild was a Zora it would probably be like heaven. Though Zora were freshwater, so maybe not. 

Wild hadn’t thought about the Zora in a long time; it brought back memories of confusing but simpler times. Of Sidon smiling with too many teeth but still looking impossibly kind, of guilt for a woman he couldn’t remember and never would, of Dusk water-drenched and pouting but still allowing the Zora kids to play with him. Wild would have probably stayed in the Domain after everything was over had he not been the Wildling. It was a weird bittersweet feeling. Wild tried not to think about it.

“Oh, oh, oh! And you guys can meet my Grandma and Aryll!!” 

“Who’s Aryll?” Warriors asks, finally straightening out his armor and hair to his liking. 

“Why the bestest little sister in the world!” Wind proudly exclaims, and Wild’s heart almost stops.

This kid had a family, a life, a warm and happy home waiting for him. How could any of these other heroes let this child adventure them? Wild didn’t want to see his warm and happy family home. He didn’t think he would be able to keep calling these people Heroes if he saw what they had stolen this child from. 

But all too soon they are winding their way up a worn curvy sand-covered path, leading to a towering house atop a hill. Wild can’t bear to look, he’s already seen the happy home of one future hero, why must he see the life of another? But Wind runs up to the water-damaged front door, and doesn’t even knock as he throws it open with a clatter of seashell chimes and his happy yell of “Grandma! Aryll! I’m home!” 

“Big Brother!” a blob of pink screams as a girl no older than 8 comes hurling at Wind. He scoops her up into the air with ease and laughs as he spins her around. “I missed you so much! Did you bring your favorite sibling a present!?” 

“A present!?” Wind gasps putting Aryll back on the ground and looking equally as excited as his little sister, “you got me a present?!” 

“Big brother!” she laughs, giving him a playful whack on the arm as Wind doubles over laughing.

“Don’t worry, little sis,” Wind chuckles righting himself and pulling a pink box out from his travel pack, “your big brother is still the best.” 

“Yay!” the girl cheers, snatching the box and running up the spiraling staircase into another floor of the towering home. 

“Your sister is very energetic,” Sky says, giving a small laugh of his own.

“Oh, you should have seen me when I was her age. I was a real terror,” Wind smiles, leading them all into the house. 

Wild hesitates at the threshold before Legend huffs behind him and pushes him inside. It’s a warm, rustic, and thoroughly lived-in home, made of what appears to be cobbled together wood. It’s sparse, but everything looks cared for, and paintings of family and friends decorate the walls. Pictures of Wind, what Wild assumes are their parents, other young boys and girls, and strange creatures. All and all, it’s a home. Wild has to blink the hazy memory of another child hero’s home out of his eyes as he shifts on his feet and avoids the faces of the photos.

“Welcome back, my little hero,” a warm motherly voice calls, as an older woman hobbles into the room, setting down a tray full of steaming mugs. “I made you and your new friends’ tea.” 

“Grandma!” Wind yells, launching himself into her arms, and getting a warm hug in return. “I have so much to tell you! Sorry for leaving so suddenly, but I was busy saving other worlds! Can you believe it, grandma? Other Hyrules! It’s so cool!” 

Wind’s grandma chuckles and pats Wind on the head, before sitting down in a cushioned rocking chair and motioning for the others to sit as well. “You and your new friends will have to tell me all about it, my boy.” 

Time moves forward and picks up the mug decorated with bows and flowers with a polite smile, “We would love to, madam.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah!!!! Writing for nine characters at once is so hard. I hope I did all the Heroes justice. Gosh, I miss when it was just Link/Wild....
> 
> Sorry this chapter took a little longer (I'm working on a really long one-shot that's sort of absorbed me....) I also had to change my outline 3-4 times and 3 full chapters got cut.... So things might be a little slow as I'm having to completely rewrite everything from scratch. Thanks for understanding!
> 
> Anyway, feel free to leave a Comment or a Kudos! (You know I love them!)
> 
> See you next time! :)


	11. This Quiet is a Sign of the Coming Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild learns more about this peaceful Hyrule and tries to fit in with the other Heroes. Surprisingly, things are quiet, almost too quiet...

Wild tries, he really does. But the home is small, and there are so many people, so many voices and opinions, and –he just can’t. Every time he opens his mouth to add even a meaningless comment, to just say yes or no to a simple question, his tongue betrays him, and nothing escapes his lips. Wild sticks to the corner between the door and the beach facing window. 

After his talk with the Hero of Time, Wild wanted to get to know the others better, and seeing them interact with each other was eye-opening; they laughed and bickered and were much more real and normal than he would ever have guessed. Wild felt like he could talk to them, but the haunting feelings of that first night, of their analyzing and calculating stares after, of what they had done - _murders. They killed Dusk. Why should he help them?_ \- kept his tongue in check. 

Wild didn’t want to be alone; he never wanted to be alone again. He was so tired of the alone, of the emptiness. And now his own fear was keeping him from even talking to an 8-year-old. 

There was a sound of ruffling feathers, and Wild internally groaned. ‘Great,’ he thought, banging his head softly against the wall behind him, ‘now even the goddess is here to mock me.’ Even knowing she was probably just checking in still didn’t stop the bloom of warmth in his chest. But Wild never felt the rush of otherworldly magic, nor the singing all present voice in his head, not even the fluttering warmth of divinity, and Wild quickly opened his eyes and glanced around the warm home. Bubbling alarm and confusion pooling in his gut. And perched on the window next to him, watching him curiously was no god, but a white and black bird. 

Wild could almost laugh at his own foolishness. He mistook a common bird for a god; he was lucky she didn’t descend and scold him for that. But it was nice to no longer be completely alone in the room full of happily talking heroes. Wild looked down at the over baked cookie Aryll had forced into his hands earlier that night. With some effort, he broke the brick of a desert in half and shuffled closer to the window as he held out the crumbs. 

The bird didn’t even hesitate. It was leaning over and pecking at the offered food. He gently raised his other hand and began to pet the bird's head. It crooned under his palm and pushed up for more pats. Wild smiled; at least someone here liked him.

“Whoa! What are you doing!?!”

Wild spun around, only to find himself the sudden center of attention. Wind and his grandmother were both giving him a look like he was crazy. Sky looked mildly impressed, while the others just looked confused and a little weirded out. Wind stomped over to him, and Wild lowered his hand from the bird, confused what he had done wrong. 

“Those are pests!” Wind explained even as Wild tilted his head in confusion, and Wind picked up a broom, “don’t feed them!” and then Wild’s eyes widened in horror as Wind proceeded to smack the little bird with the broom like he was attacking a monster, not a helpless animal. 

The bird screeched in freight and fluttered in the window, trying and failing to take off as feathers scattered everywhere. Wind mumbled some curse words that would probably turn heads of the most grizzled of warriors as he continued to try and hit the panicking bird. Wild was halfway to grabbing the broom out of Wind's hands when the bird finally righted itself and took off screaming into the morning air. Wild wanted to ask why, why had Wind-a child- just been so cruel to such an innocent creature? But no one was acting as if this was out of the ordinary as if this unnecessarily awful treatment of wildlife was normal and expected. Wild felt sick.

“That’s a seagull Wild," Wind explained as he glared out the window like the bird had personally offended him just by existing, "they're flying rats. Don’t feed them, and don’t pet them. They're diseased .” And the window was snapped shut with a finality that hung low and dark in Wild’s heart.

He doesn’t move from his corner the rest of the night. He’s overly aware of everything. Time watches him, with that piercing soul reading eye. Wild feels exposed and seen, bare in ways he wishes he wasn’t. He wants to hide, but Time’s not the worst. Aryll, Wind’s little sister, tries to talk to him several times. She also likes the seagulls, and she claims Wind used to love them even more. Wild wishes he could unhear the whispered confession of how a giant bird kidnapped her, so her brother doesn’t like them anymore. Wild hates how he both understands and still doesn’t at the same time. But even she isn’t the worst part. 

Twilight decides to stand next to him against his wall, and Wild’s whole body locks up, overly aware of every little movement the other makes. Until Wild finds his muscles relaxing against his will, he panics and tenses up again. Confused as to why he’s feeling comfortable around the person he hates the most, before he realizes why. It’s been 2 weeks, but 2 weeks isn’t a long time for someone with a nose who was raised in the wilds. Twilight smells just like Dusk. Wild has to fight down the urge to punch Twilight in the face for reopening wounds he thought healed as he fights the sudden urge to cry. But Twilight only stands uncomfortably close, watching, waiting, Wild’s silent warden. 

Once the sun finally sets, and the tea and cobbled together, dinner is eaten (Wild didn’t touch anything but the cookie he had been forced to hold). The Heroes start heading for bed, getting blankets and spots around the house at Wind’s instruction. Twilight still doesn’t move. 

Wild doesn’t think he will the whole night. He’s seen the glances sent around by the other heroes. They don’t trust him, don’t want him. Twilight killed his best friend and made him a trophy. Wouldn’t it be fitting that he fell to his hand too? 

“Wild?” 

He snaps back to the present, where Wind is looking up at him with a green patchwork blanket. “Do you wanna sleep downstairs or upstairs?”

Wild’s been listening to sleeping arrangements, he knows no one else got to pick, and that Twilight also hasn’t been given a spot. It’s a clever setup. Wild’s not falling for it.

He shakes his head and pushes himself off the wall, heading for the door.

“What? Wait. Where are you going?” Wind asks, and Wild almost feels bad about how confused and hurt he looks, almost.

“Watch.” And Wild slips into the night without a trace, hopping up into the nearby palm trees just as Twilight races outside with Four. They search for only a few minutes before giving up and heading back inside. Wild waits for another 15 before he slides down from the tree and finds a comfortable place to sit. He’s not planning on faking sleep tonight, he doesn’t need any, and no matter how safe they claim this Hyrule is, that doesn’t guaranty how safe its people are. 

Wild perches on top of the house the other heroes are sleeping in. He’s above the door and windows; he’ll know if anyone leaves, if anyone tries to approach, and if any hero tries to sneak out after him. 

Outset Island is a quiet place in the daytime, and it’s nearly silent at night. The stars are in different places and make constellations he doesn’t know, the ever-present hum of magic is faint, barely here. Wild is used to a land that’s more alive, that’s bursting at the seems with nature and growth. This Hyrule isn’t dead; it’s just… here. Wild can’t hear any owls or crickets. No monsters roam this land in the cover of darkness, and the moon doesn’t smoke and glow. It’s quiet and peaceful and empty. It makes Wild feel impossibly alone.

There’s no movement in the house until the sun has risen and is shining bright and warm in the sky. Wild carefully slides down the roof and hovers by the open doorway as he watches the Heroes of Legend fumble around the small kitchen area and help Wind’s grandma set the table. Half of them look like their sleepwalking, and the other half are scowling at dishes and silverware like it insulted their family and kicked their dogs. 

Twilight seems the most put together(and the most dressed). He’s doing a majority of the work, while the others are stuck with menial tasks like placing napkins and getting drinks. Wild’s not sure if he should enter. He skipped dinner last night, but his slate was still full of food. He didn’t need to eat with the others. But he decided he would give them a chance, and he wasn’t exactly fair last night (they weren’t exactly fair last night either, but Wild understood them not trusting him. He didn’t trust them after all.) Breakfast would be a good baby step. If he could force himself to walk into the house and actually be in the room. 

“Ah, it’s the ninja hero!” Ayrll cheers, and suddenly there’s a smiling face staring up at him. He tenses but forces his body not to run from an 8-year-old girl wearing a pink frilly dress. He can hear the rest of the room still, can feel the piercing gazes of the heroes as they turn to stare him down. Wild forces his hands to stop shaking, and nods his greeting to the small girl in front of him.

Wind comes sliding into the scene with a forced laugh and an even more forced smile, “Come on Ayrll, leave Wild alone, he doesn’t like people getting close to him,” and then under his breath, he hisses, “we talked about this sis.”

Ayrll just giggles and lets herself be dragged away, but she waves goodbye to Wild as she goes. Wild’s muscles stay tensed even as she disappears somewhere else in the house.

Twilight nods to him as he places a plate full of scrambled eggs on the table, “mornin’,” he greets, sending him a smile like he wasn’t assigned to watch him last night and completely failed.

“Good morning Wild,” Hyrule greets, rubbing at his eyes.

“Morning,” Four echoes, almost sounding like four people for a split second as he comes down the stairs.

“Yeah, nice to see you join us,” Legend agrees, with a frown, pulling out a chair and plopping into it rather ungracefully, pointedly not looking at Wild. 

“I thought we would have to come shake you out of a tree,” Warriors jokes, kicking Legend’s chair as he passes.

“Morning…,” Sky mumbles, almost dozing off before snapping to attention at the sound of Wind’s clap, who snickers and races away from Time’s and his Grandma’s judgmental looks.

“Breakfast, dear?” Wind’s grandma offers as she places a large tray of steaming pancakes down in the center of the table, “I made enough for all of you.”

Wild knows it would be rude to refuse, but there’s a weird air around the group this morning. He’s not sure he wants to get involved. He must hesitate too long because Time speaks up, “It’s okay if you’re not feeling too hungry, Wild, but you need to eat something. I know you didn’t eat dinner last night.”

So he was being watched as carefully as he thought. Wild inches his way over to the table, and the others make valiant though useless efforts in pretending to not pay him any attention as he sinks into a chair in between Legend and Four. Wild picks at his food but eats everything on his plate (which wasn’t a lot, to begin with). The rest of the group makes loud happy conversation over top of him, mostly about things, places, and people he doesn’t understand. Wild wonders if it’s the Hero’s Spirit that makes them so friendly with each other, or if it’s just their individual personalities. 

But thankfully, the Heroes have other plans besides sitting around the table and chatting over cold breakfast. And before too terribly long, the group begins to disperse. Wild’s about to make a run of the door and use his time seeing if there really is anything alive on the island beside palm trees and seagulls when Hyrule speaks up.

“Uh Wild?”

He stops, just inches from the door and his escape. He sighs but turns around. Hyrule’s holding two large baskets that are too big for him, they are empty, but the sight is still mildly amusing. 

“Wind’s Grandma wanted me to gather some fruit for lunch. Would you like to help?”

Wild really doesn’t want to. And Hyrule is just fidgety enough that Wild is starting to suspect that something else is going on. (he gets a rather bloody flashback to a Yiga girl who tried to flirt her way into stabbing his back and Wild shutters).

He shakes his head ‘no’.

Hyrule holds out the basket anyway, “Please?” he asks, eyes begging, “it won’t take long if you help, and everyone else is busy.”

Wild can see Four in the background reading a book and Legend and Warriors pulling out a game set from a cabinet. So ‘busy’ means he didn’t voice any plans? This was going to be a problem if that was the case. 

But Wild’s eyes find Time talking with Wind’s Grandmother, a tomato plant on the table between them. It looks like they are trading tips. Time looks oddly focused on such a small, fragile little plant. He remembers the talk they had, his decision to give these heroes a chance. Maybe he was starting too big with all of them. Maybe one-on-one would be easier. It would be easier to run or get away if things went sideways too... 

Wild looks back at Hyrule, who looks far too hopeful for such a simple offer of fruit picking. He sighs and takes the offered basket. Hyrule smiles and nods at him, leading him out the door and down the beach into the more forested part of the island. Wild follows behind him and hopes this doesn’t end with a knife in his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took so long guys! I've had some internet troubles so posting has been a little hard. I'm not sure how happy I am with this chapter, but I'm feeling way better with the overall outline now. (Also don't hate Wind guys, he's got some trauma of his own, that he's having trouble dealing with). 
> 
> Leave a comment or a kudos if you like.
> 
> See you next chapter! :)


	12. A Spark of a Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild learns a little bit more about Hyrule and how this world is different from his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took so long! Life got hard and the holidays were crazy (and then I got sucked into Genshin Impact and well...) Anyway, hope you all enjoy! :)

Fruit gathering in other Hyrules, Wild learns, does not usually involve climbing trees, shooting fruits down with arrows, or smacking trees with hammers. So it’s a quiet boring affair, of just collecting the fallen fruit from the ground. Wild feels like he should offer to climb a tree so they could at least get some better fruit. But he’s already wary about this whole thing, giving Hyrule his back with no cover? That’s asking to be stabbed. So he settles for slightly too ripe ground fruit, and does his best to shake the ants off.

There’s a faint buzz in his ears. Wild thinks he’s hearing things until the buzz turns into a chime, and his vision is swimming with a pale blue light. Fairies. Wild nearly falls over in his panic to grab them. 

How could he forget? They were in his hood when he shifted worlds! _Are they okay? Why haven’t they acted up until now? Oh no are they-_

“Wild?”

Hyrule. 

Wild tugs up his hood. He can’t believe he forgot about the fairies, oh Goddess were they okay? He couldn’t check with Hyrule here. Had he seen them? Did he notice?

“You know,” Hyrule says slowly, and Wild glances up briefly to lock eyes with him as he adds another palm fruit to his basket, “You don’t need to hide them.”

Oh no. He had seen them. Wild can feel his muscles tenses. Instincts kicking in. Fight or Flight and Wild wasn’t sure which was better. What was Hyrule going to do? What did he want? Was he going to-

“Oh goddess! Just-,” Hyrule backs up from him, the fruit basket clatters to the ground in the space between them spilling fruit across the sand, “You look like a spooked animal! I’m not-I just-, I’m not going to hurt you!”

Wild doesn’t like that comparison. He may be the Hero of the Wilds, but he was still a Hylain. Well… he thought he was still a Hylain anyway. 

“Listen,” Hyrule starts slowly, glancing around as though checking to see if any of the others are nearby, Wild tenses even further. No one good checks for witnesses. “If it helps I was kinda, in a weird way, raised by fairies a little bit.”

Wild blinks. What was with the Chosen Heroes of Hylia and being raised by ancient powerful creatures of the wild? Next, he’s going to learn Wind’s parents are actually mermaids and Four is small because he grew up with tiny people. 

Hyrule must be able to read the disbelief on his face because he sighs and shuffles, doing another check of the surrounding forest. “Look, I… I can tell you’re a good person,- and I’m not saying the others aren’t good too-,” he rushes to add, looking horrified at the very thought that Wild would think he cared so little of the others. Wild doesn’t care at all what Hyrule thinks of the others. “But in a different way.” Hyrule tries to explain rubbing his hands together and making vague hand gestures Wild can’t interpret. 

“Fairies don’t come to anyone.” Hyrule settles on saying, making a motion towards Wild like he’s supposed to understand how normal people work compared to him. “I was raised by a few and they don’t stick to me the way they do you. It’s a good day if I can dazzle one long enough to grab it. Time can usually attract a few with his music, but his songs hold magic,” Hyrule frowns and looks down at the grass and sand beneath his feet as he holds himself likes he’s afraid he’s going to break apart as he whispers, “old magic.”

Wild’s about to ask what he means by that, and why he says the words ‘old magic’ like it’s a dark twisted thing. According to the Great Deku Tree, Wild himself was blessed (if not made) with old magics, though the tree never spoke of old magic being bad. Before Wild can ask though, Hyrule shakes himself out of whatever vision he had knocked himself into.

He gives a very fake laugh, and continues on, “Any-Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, I trust you with this secret. None of the others know I’m, well, Fairy connected. So consider this a secret for a secret okay?”

Wild doesn’t know what to make of any of that. Hyrule was ‘fairy connected’, not that Wild even really knew what that meant. But Hyrule said a secret for a secret which meant he wouldn’t tell anyone about his fairies and that was good enough for him.

Wild careful pulls his hood down, watching Hyrule the entire time. Hyrule doesn’t move from his position ten feet away from him at the base of the other tree. With a chime of bells five glowing blue fairies fly out of his hood and begin doing lazy circles around him. 

“Wildling!” they chime and Wild can’t help the smile that tugs at his lips at the sight. He didn’t realize how much he had missed the company of the wilds until it was back and refilling the hole in his heart. “That portal was scary!” one of them chimes, “sorry we couldn’t help you!” another pipes up, “your hood is very comfy,” a third sings. 

“Wow,” Hyrule breaths and Wild’s eyes snap back to his companion, who realizing he’s just spoken has the guts to look sheepish, “it’s just…” he trials off staring at the fairies in open awe, “I’ve never heard fairies before.”

Wild raises an eyebrow, somehow not truly believing that, especially if he was 'raised by fairies’.

“Well I mean a Fairy Fountain sure, but the little fairies I never heard.”

Wild is more inclined to believe that. The tiny fairies had always been fond of him, and he could always find a few hanging around the Fairy Fountains (even if he wasn’t looking for them). Though he had been traveling with them for so long they had only started talking to him a little over a week ago now. But once they felt comfortable enough to start it was hard to stop them. They were quite the tiny chatterboxes.

“Who?” the fairies chime, stopping their circling to hover around Wild’s head, a few of the shyer one’s even burrow their way into his hair. Wild should really tell them not to do that, because it is going to be really hard to explain how he’s covered in fairy dust, but right now he’s more focused on reassuring his tiny friends. 

“Hylia’s hero,”

“Feels like us,” one of the fairies chimes floating a little closer to Hyrule curiously, “fairy magic,” another sings zipping around Wild’s head before diving back into his hood, “yes fairy blessings!” a third agrees, hovering in the air by his elbow and glowing faintly.

Hyrule smiles at the butterfly-winged lights and holds up a single hand, he closes his eyes for a second, whispering something under his breath. When he opens his eyes, they sparkle ever so softly and his palm glows blue with the familiar hum of fairy magic. It feels slightly off, but Wild does recognize the familiar hum of a fairy’s power(and the familiar flutter of something so other it's godly). 

The fairies around him chime and buzz excitedly, circling him a few times, before settling down again to watch Hyrule curiously as the hero closes his fist once more and the faint buzz of power fades, “It's one of their blessings that I still carry.”

Wild hums and soon the conversation lulls into a companionable quiet. Wild still keeps one eye on Hyrule, but the bow tight tension of his shoulders eases somewhat. If nothing else Wild doubts Hyrule is foolish enough to attack him in unfamiliar terrain when he has five fairies. And they both return to their original task of gathering fruit.

Until the next coconut Wild picks up causes something to skitter out from underneath it-racing through the grassy underbrush. Instinct kicks in and Wild dives for the creature before even realizing what he’s lunging for.

Hyrule startles as he pounces, hands effectively caging in whatever small critter tried to run from him.

“What-What are you doing?” Hyrule asks eying his form sprawled across the ground. The fairies around him buzz with wonder in his ears as he ever so slowly leans up-carefully scooping his hands to admire his prize. 

It’s a rock at first glance, but Wild knows he didn’t miss. He stares at it harder as the little shell(?) wiggles as tiny claws not unlike those of a crab slowly peek out. Wild’s breath catches and he leans in even further to the impossibly tiny and unknown living creature in his hands. The fairies chime excitedly and worriedly around him, as they sneak peeks through his hair and fingers., "what is it?", "can we keep it!?", "Friend!"

Wild can feel Hyrule inching closer behind, and lets the hero look over his shoulder at his prize. Hyrule snorts a laugh, a smile stretching across his face as he glances between the captivated look on Wild's face and the strange creature in his hands, “You can bring it back with us if you want?”

Wild turns with a grin, already in the middle of a nod when he remembers. He freezes, mind suddenly filled not with a bird being assaulted by a broom but the tiny creature in his hands instead. his fingers curl around the small being in his hands and he brings it closer to his person, fear and doubt swimming in his mind. Wild couldn’t forgive himself or the other heroes if that happened again.

“Wind likes crabs!” Hyrule says quickly, Wild’s thoughts must have been easy to read on his face then, “As long as you don’t let it loose in the house I’m sure it will be fine.”

Wild scans the hero in front of him, looking for any sign of a lie. Hyrule stands a little stiffly, a worried tilt to his smile, a nervous air around him that grows every second longer Wild does nothing but stare at him. He takes a measured step away from the 'fairy connected' hero, Hyrule's smile falls and he opens his mouth to protest or plead his case, but Wild sends him a glare and he snaps his jaw shut with a 'click'. 

Once Wild takes a few more steps back, he switches his attention to the small creature staring back up at him with beady black eyes. It was so tiny in his hands, even smaller than the fairies. Wild could easily keep it in his pocket, or even the Slate (though he wasn’t sure what would happen to living organisms not from his world). He could always hide it if things went bad, and maybe he could even ask Wind or Aryll where to find more. The fairies loved this strange little crab, he was sure the Koroks would absolutely adore them.

Wild nods, mind made up. The little crab was cute and proof that even the others seemingly empty Hyrules were full of life. That life was just much more hidden than what Wild was used to, but he was learning. He was the Wildling for a reason after all, he would learn to know and understand life in all of its mysterious and unique ways.

He looks up to the now very anxious looking hero and nods again, bringing the little creature closer to himself. Wild promised he would get along with the other heroes, if Hyrule was certain nothing would happen, Wild was willing to extend enough trust to see. Hyrule smiles, his whole face lighting up. Wild pretends he's not slightly startled by the hero's reaction by switching his attention from the glowing hero to the tiny crab. He gives a tentative smile of his own as he lets Hyrule babble and start to lead him back towards the others. 

"I'll try," he whispers as a promise, to who he's not entirely sure, but as he feels the reassuring buzz of fairies in his ears, the presence of another Hylian walking beside him, and the warmth of the sun shining on his back, it doesn't really matter who its a promise for, just that he intends to keep it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, this story just got its first pieces of fan art(I still can't believe I just said that). You can see the amazing works here! -https://l-silvermoon.tumblr.com/post/634565282946547712/wildling-chapter-1-dreamhero-the-legend-of  
> https://www.instagram.com/p/CJKE5Z6HrK9/?igshid=gqwu2za9kdx
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> As always leave a comment or kudos down below! (i love to read theories and ideas!)  
> See you in the next chapter! :)

**Author's Note:**

> End for now!  
> I'm working on more chapters and ideas, and new updates come as I have both the time to write them and the brainpower to think them!
> 
> Similar Works: If you want more, not-Hylia's-Hero-Wild I recommended reading any of my works with the tag "Wild (Linked Universe) Hero of Choice" 
> 
> Using my AU: All of you are more than welcome to use any of my ideas (in fact I hope they inspire you in some way!) Just credit me, if you don't mind! You can use the 'Wildling Hero AU' tag, the 'Dream/Renia character' tag or the 'Wild (Linked Universe) Hero of Choice' tag if you guys want. Have fun! 
> 
> Anyway, hope you liked it, leave a comment if you want(i love hearing everyone's theories and ideas for what's happening next!), and have a great day! :)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Home for Flowers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29794917) by [faufaren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/faufaren/pseuds/faufaren)




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